Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A 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 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).
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.
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
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
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
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 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%.
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.
Against Gwynedd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
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.
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
Cars or vans · share of households
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%.
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
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 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
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%.
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
White British, not charted: 96% of Nefyn · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
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%).
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
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
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.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 20% of adults have no qualification; in Nefyn, 20%, while 33% hold one at degree level (31%).
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.
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 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.