Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 2,579 residents, it is a town in Gwynedd, Wales.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Porthmadog ranks #5 of 13 in Gwynedd, with a C+ overall. That leaves it better than 39% of UK towns. Work and incomes lag: mean household income £42,768; 3.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Hazards are a real consideration (D−): 17% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Fewer journeys need a car: just over a third of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Add cost of living to its strengths — the median home sold for £179,000, 4 years of area income.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Natural Resources Wales.
This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
The 3 things Porthmadog does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Porthmadog is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 90 buildings inside Porthmadog’s built-up area.
47% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1870.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Porthmadog.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
47% of homes date from before 1919. Per 10,000 residents, Porthmadog counts 349 listed buildings, above both Gwynedd’s towns (76) and Wales’s towns (18). None of the 90 listed buildings reaches Grade II* or Grade I; all are Grade II.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Two of them are shown below, each with the reason. Between them, two primaries and one secondary teach 617 pupils in Porthmadog.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Eifion WynLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 212 | – |
| Ysgol EifionyddLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 373 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 16% of workers, below Gwynedd’s towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (24%) alike. 57% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. The car carried 65% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violence and sexual offences were 43% of the crimes. There were 26.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Gwynedd’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4) alike. Burglary and damage come to 12.7 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 272 crimes inside Porthmadog’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 63 reports of anti-social behaviour.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
A fifth of households are private tenants. Private rents average £724 a month across the Gwynedd council area. Half of the 106 standard sales inside Porthmadog’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £179,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £250,000 | 7 |
| Semi-detached | £250,000 | 11 |
| Terraced | £175,000 | 71 |
| Flat or maisonette | £160,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Porthmadog is Ysbyty Gwynedd, 19.5 miles away. One GP practice serves the town. Women here live to 83 on average and men to 78.1 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Porthmadog | Gwynedd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 80% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.8% | 5.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 20% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy.
15% are under 15, lower than both Gwynedd’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (17%). Aged 15 to 24: just over one in ten residents. Porthmadog has a median age of 48.3.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Porthmadog | Gwynedd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 22% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 28% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 18% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 32% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gwynedd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Porthmadog. Best known first.
Heritage railwayWelsh Highland Heritage Railway100 m outside town, to the northeast
Historic housePlas Brondanw4.8 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumHeritage Centrein townWildlife parkWildlife parkBywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn Wildlife2.4 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
90 listed buildings in Porthmadog.
Tafarn Pencei Cafe Bar: Photo: Alan Fryer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Snowdon Mill and Ty'r Felin: Photo: Alan Fryer · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madoc Yacht Club: Photo: Arthur C Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John: Photo: Arthur C Harris · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Porthmadog.
Mary Davies: William Roberts (Gwilym Eryri , 1844 - 1895), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porthmadog | 2,579 | — | C+ | A− | C− | C+ |
| Penrhyndeudraeth | 1,463 | 2.8 | — | A− | C | C+ |
| Criccieth | 1,737 | 4.2 | — | C | B | C+ |
| Harlech | 1,261 | 4.5 | — | B+ | C+ | B− |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | 3,449 | 9.4 | C | A | D | C− |
| Penygroes | 1,793 | 11 | — | A− | D | C |
Penrhyndeudraeth, Criccieth, Harlech and Penygroes have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
90 on Cadw’s list. That is 14.3 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £179,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £160,000, terraced houses £175,000, semi-detached houses £250,000 and detached houses £250,000.
Town in Gwynedd, Wales
Porthmadog is a built-up area of 2,579 people, in the Gwynedd council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.