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Houses on the High Street, NefynPhoto: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0
48.5Median age
Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

A Welsh-speaking village: 73% of Nefyn’s residents speak Welsh

90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns, against 96% in Nefyn. Fewer households with dependent children than in 81% of UK towns: 24%. The village is home to 1,291 residents in 560 households, by the 2021 Census. For Nefyn, the census puts households in flats at 3.6%.

What stands out · In brief

What the Census says about Nefyn’s people

A Welsh-speaking village

923 residents, 73% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 97% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓

Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).

Ages

In Nefyn, 27% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 82% of UK towns

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

NefynWales’s towns
0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

Half of Nefyn’s residents are over 48.5, older than in 77% of UK towns. For Nefyn, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.7%. On average, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. In Tywyn, the oldest of Gwynedd’s towns by this measure, it is 36%.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 1516%
15 to 249.7%
25 to 4420%
45 to 6427%
65 and over27%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

Women and men · all residents

50% women, 50% men

Nefyn
Wales
WomenMen

About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

In Nefyn, 6.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 91% 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

Full-time students4.9%
Higher managerial and professional7.8%
Lower managerial and professional22%
Intermediate8.8%
Small employers and self-employed16%
Supervisory and technical6.1%
Semi-routine14%
Routine15%
Never worked or long-term unemployed6%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Nefyn
6.8%
Wales’s towns
9.8%
Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad
Moved in within a year
85
residents, 6.6%; Wales’s towns 9.1%
Of them from abroad
8
1.1× Wales’s share

Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine work; in Nefyn, 30% and 29%. Elsewhere, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. For Nefyn, the census puts full-time students at 4.9%.

Households

In Nefyn, 1.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 97% of UK towns

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 18%Living alone, under 66 16%Families with dependent children 24%Couples and families, no young children 41%Shared houses and other 1.3%

Against Gwynedd’s towns and Wales’s towns

Nefyn
Gwynedd’s towns
Wales’s towns

People per household

1 person34%
2 people35%
3 people13%
4 people11%
5 or more6.4%

Wales’s towns.

One-person households make up 34%, against 32% across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. There are 2.2 people in the average household.

Homes & cars

In Nefyn, 41% of households live in a detached house, more than in 78% of UK towns

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Nefyn
Gwynedd’s towns
Wales’s towns
DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van14%
One41%
Two34%
Three or more12%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

Set against 21% across Wales’s towns, 14% of households have no car or van in Nefyn. The comparison figure for households in detached houses is 24% across Wales’s towns. Households in terraced houses account for 29%.

Where people were born

Below 88% of UK towns: 3.2% of residents were 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%

Nefyn
3.2%
Gwynedd’s towns
5.4%
Wales’s towns
7.4%
EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language99%
Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.6%
Another main language, little or no English0.2%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

The share of residents whose main language is English tops 91% of UK towns: 99%. As a yardstick, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%).

Welsh language

Welsh is spoken by 73% of Nefyn’s residents

Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.

Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over

Can speak Welsh73%
Can speak, read and write Welsh66%
Any Welsh skill (including understanding only)82%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

73% of residents aged 3 and over, 923 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, more than in 97% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). Top of Gwynedd: Caernarfon, at 82%.

Ethnicity & religion

43% said they have no religion, more than in 64% of UK towns

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

NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns
Other White1.9%
Asian0.2%
Mixed1.6%
Black0.2%
Other0.7%
0%2%4%

White British, not charted: 96% of Nefyn · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.

Religion · all residents

NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns
No religion43%
Christian48%
Muslim0.7%
Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist0.2%
Other religion0.7%
Didn’t answer7.6%
0%30%60%

Here 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 43%. Residents with no religion: 47% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. The largest groups after White British are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Caribbean (0.2%).

Relationships & caring

A higher share of adults who have never married than 72% of UK towns, at 36%

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership36%
Married or civil partnership42%
Separated1.7%
Divorced9%
Widowed11%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns
111residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 9%, against 10% in Wales’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week3.7%
20 to 49 hours1.8%
50 hours or more3.5%

The figure for unpaid carers is 9% in Nefyn and 10% across Wales’s towns. Married adults and civil partners are rarer here than in 83% of UK towns. Set beside that, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. 43 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week.

Qualifications

Degree-level qualifications: held by 33% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications20%
Apprenticeship7.6%
A levels or similar14%
Degree level33%
NefynGwynedd’s townsWales’s towns

Across Wales’s towns, 20% of adults have no qualification; in Nefyn, 20%, while 33% hold one at degree level (31%).

Neighbours

Nefyn sits below 1 of its 2 closest neighbours on median age

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

PwllheliCricciethNefyn
under 3838–4444–5050–5656+
TownPeopleAwayMedian age65+Homes with children
Nefyn1,291—48.527%24%
Pwllheli3,6225.3 mi45.423%23%
Criccieth1,73711.9 mi56.637%18%
More about Nefyn’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

How to read these numbers

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 Nefyn’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 Nefyn’s residents

What is the population of Nefyn?

The 2021 Census counted 1,291 people in Nefyn’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Nefyn?

The median age was 48.5 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Nefyn?

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 Nefyn?

43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.

Is Nefyn good for families?

24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Nefyn’s schools page.

How many people speak Welsh in Nefyn?

923 residents aged 3 and over, 73%, 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.