Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 54% of Menai Bridge’s residents speak Welsh
The share of married adults and civil partners is 41%, against 43% across Wales’s towns. 3,045 residents in 1,464 households: that is Menai Bridge at the 2021 Census. Households with dependent children: 20% of the total. One-person households are more common here than in 99% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Menai Bridge’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
1,609 residents, 54% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 93% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Menai Bridge at 3,400 in 2011 and 3,100 in 2024, down 9%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 99% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Slower than most: −9% since 2011, behind 99% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Menai Bridge’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,400 people in 2011; 3,100 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+22%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−32%).
Half of Menai Bridge is over 47.3, older than 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 24% here and 21% across Wales’s towns. 55–59 is the most common age band: 8% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Menai Bridge, 47.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 94% of UK towns: 8.5%
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%.
By class, 38% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 21% in routine and semi-routine work (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). In Menai Bridge, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Full-time students make up 8% across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 96% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across Wales’s towns: 2.9%.
Households in flats make up 16% in Menai Bridge, more than in 73% of UK towns
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
Terraced houses are home to 18% of households, against 29% across Wales’s towns. Across Menai Bridge, 35% of households live in a detached house. Households without a car or van are more common here than in just over three fifths of UK towns. Against that, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns.
7.9% born outside the UK
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among those born abroad, the share arriving in 2017 or later is 21% (Wales’s towns: 23%). Residents whose main language is English: 96% of the total. Higher than in 63% of UK towns: 7.9% of residents were born outside the UK.
Welsh is spoken by 54% of Menai Bridge’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 1,609, or 54% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 93% of them. Within Gwynedd, Caernarfon has the largest share, 82%.
Above 62% of UK towns: 43% of residents said they have no religion
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: 90% of Menai Bridge · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Islam is the religion of 2.4% of residents. Set beside that, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns. Nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 63% of UK towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 48%, against 43% across Wales’s towns.
Fewer unpaid carers than 74% of UK towns: 8.5%
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
37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (Wales’s towns: 38%). Set beside that, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns.
45% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Menai Bridge counts 45% of its adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; at the other end, 13% have no qualification (20%). 17% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
240th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Keele (20.6), the youngest, and West Chiltington (63.1), the oldest. Nearest to Menai Bridge in age: Haddenham (47.3), Mortimer (47.3), Croston (47.4) and Denby Dale (47.4).
Of the 7 towns nearest Menai Bridge, 2 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menai Bridge | 3,045 | — | 47.3 | 24% | 20% |
| Bangor | 16,994 | 1.4 mi | 26.4 | 12% | 26% |
| Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll | 2,905 | 1.4 mi | 52 | 33% | 22% |
| Y Felinheli | 2,333 | 3.6 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 25% |
| Beaumaris | 1,120 | 3.8 mi | 58.1 | 39% | 17% |
| Tregarth | 1,252 | 4.2 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Gaerwen | 1,277 | 4.4 mi | 39.8 | 19% | 30% |
| Bethel | 1,091 | 4.6 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 32% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Menai Bridge’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Menai Bridge’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,045 people in 2021, against 3,045 in the built-up area.
- 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 Menai Bridge’s residents
What is the population of Menai Bridge?
The 2021 Census counted 3,045 people in Menai Bridge’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,100 people in mid-2024, 9% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Menai Bridge?
The median age was 47.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 71% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Menai Bridge?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 7.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Menai Bridge?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.4% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Menai Bridge good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Menai Bridge’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Menai Bridge?
1,609 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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.