Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 83% of Penygroes’s residents speak Welsh
The share of one-person households is 38%, against 32% across Wales’s towns. The census found that nearly half of households live in a terraced house in Penygroes. The village has fewer households with dependent children than 78% of UK towns, at 24%. Census day 2021: 1,793 residents and 799 households in the village.
What the Census says about Penygroes’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
1,445 residents, 83% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 99% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
24% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The median age in Penygroes is 45.2, higher than in 55% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 11% locally. In Tywyn, the oldest of Gwynedd’s towns by this measure, it is 36%.
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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 95% of UK towns, at 6.3%
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%.
Full-time students: 5.5%, above nearly three quarters of UK towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 9.1% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 73% 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.
1.9% of households are unrelated adults living together, against 3.1% across Wales’s towns.
Few flats: only 6.5% of households in Penygroes live in one
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
With households in detached houses at 23%, Penygroes is behind 67% of UK towns on that count. The share of households in flats across Wales’s towns is 14%. Households without a car or van account for 19%.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 96% of UK towns: 2.5%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.2%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1%). Higher than in 65% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language. Measured more widely, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
Welsh is spoken by 83% of Penygroes’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 1,445, or 83% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 99% of them. Within Gwynedd, Caernarfon has the largest share, 82%.
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 94% 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: 97% of Penygroes · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43%; Penygroes has 47%. Typically, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. Locally, 46% of residents said they have no religion.
In Penygroes, 39% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 94% 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
53 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. At 40%, the share of adults who have never married is higher than in 90% of UK towns. On average, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Here just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 10%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
31% of Penygroes’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 21% have none (20%).
Older than Penygroes: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penygroes | 1,793 | — | 45.2 | 24% | 24% |
| Caernarfon | 9,831 | 6 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Llanrug | 1,537 | 7.6 mi | 41.2 | 22% | 34% |
| Llanberis | 1,838 | 7.9 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 25% |
| Bethel | 1,091 | 8.4 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 32% |
| Clwt-y-bont | 1,385 | 9.1 mi | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Y Felinheli | 2,333 | 9.5 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 25% |
| Criccieth | 1,737 | 9.5 mi | 56.6 | 37% | 18% |
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 Penygroes’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 Penygroes’s residents
What is the population of Penygroes?
The 2021 Census counted 1,793 people in Penygroes’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Penygroes?
The median age was 45.2 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Penygroes?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 2.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Penygroes?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Penygroes good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Penygroes’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Penygroes?
1,445 residents aged 3 and over, 83%, 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.