Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 56: Harlech is older than 97% of UK towns
Across Wales’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 27%; Harlech has 15%. The census found that 48% of households live in a detached house locally. The village has more one-person households than 98% of UK towns, at 40%. At the 2021 Census, 1,261 people lived locally, in 640 households.
What the Census says about Harlech’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
666 residents, 54% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 93% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Harlech’s residents are under 56 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 34% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Residents aged 65 and over: 34%, a higher share than 96% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 7.4%, against 12% across Wales’s towns. Against that, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
2.9% of adults are full-time students, below 99% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine work; in Harlech, 33% and 24%. For full-time students, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 8%. Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Households here average 2 people, below 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gwynedd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 3.1% across Wales’s towns.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 64% of UK towns, at 17%
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
14% of households have no car or van, against 21% across Wales’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 12%. On average, 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns.
100% of residents have English as their main language, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 10%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns, against 3.2% in Harlech. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). On average, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns.
Welsh in Harlech: 54% of residents speak it
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 666 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 54% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 93% of them. The highest share in Gwynedd belongs to Caernarfon (82%).
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 90% of UK towns don’t reach
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 96% of Harlech · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 42% here and 47% across Wales’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Indian (0.3%). On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Harlech sits higher than 52% of UK towns: 50%.
Harlech: 11% of residents give unpaid care, above 81% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 47 residents. Married adults and civil partners are more common here than in 52% of UK towns. Unpaid carers make up 10% across Wales’s towns. Where 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns, Harlech has 32%.
39% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 39% of Harlech’s adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 16% have no qualification (20%).
Around Harlech, 1 of 5 towns have a higher median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlech | 1,261 | — | 56 | 34% | 15% |
| Porthmadog | 2,579 | 4.5 mi | 48.3 | 28% | 22% |
| Penrhyndeudraeth | 1,463 | 5 mi | 45.6 | 23% | 25% |
| Criccieth | 1,737 | 6.5 mi | 56.6 | 37% | 18% |
| Barmouth | 1,986 | 9.9 mi | 47 | 25% | 23% |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | 3,449 | 11.5 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Gwynedd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gwynedd (or Wales), summed the same way as Harlech’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Harlech’s residents
What is the population of Harlech?
The 2021 Census counted 1,261 people in Harlech’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Harlech?
The median age was 56 at the 2021 Census. 7.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 34% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Harlech?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 3.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Harlech?
42% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Harlech good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Harlech’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Harlech?
666 residents aged 3 and over, 54%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.