Photo: Anthony Parkes · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 75% of Pwllheli’s residents speak Welsh
The share of married adults and civil partners is 37%, against 43% across Wales’s towns. Locally, two in five households live in a terraced house. One-person households are more common here than in 99% of UK towns. Pwllheli is home to 3,622 residents in 1,684 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Pwllheli’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
2,645 residents, 75% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 97% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Pwllheli at 4,100 in 2011 and 4,000 in 2024, down 2%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 91% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
A town of flats
23% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 89% of UK towns. 27% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Pwllheli changed by −2% from 2011 to 2024, behind 91% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Pwllheli’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,100 people in 2011; 4,000 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 45 to 64 changed most (+9%) and 0 to 15 least (−20%).
In Pwllheli, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
In Pwllheli, 23% of residents are 65 or over, beside 21% across Wales’s towns. More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents. Half of the town’s residents are over 45.4, older than in 57% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Pwllheli, 45.4. 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.
In Pwllheli, 4.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 65% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 23% of Pwllheli’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 36%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. On the census count, 8.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Against that, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
23% of households have dependent children, below 85% 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.
The average household has 2.1 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. For comparison, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns. Here, 2.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Pwllheli ranks above 90% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 27%
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
Against a figure of 14% across Wales’s towns, the share of households in flats in Pwllheli comes in at 23%. For households without a car or van, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 21%. 18% of households live in a detached house.
Residents whose main language is English: 95%, a lower share than 76% of UK towns
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (4.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Across Wales’s towns, 96% of residents have English as their main language. Arrivals from 2017 on account for a quarter of residents born abroad, beside 23% across Wales’s towns.
Welsh in Pwllheli: 75% of residents speak it
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 2,645, or 75% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 97% of them. Caernarfon leads Gwynedd with 82%.
Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 69% of UK towns: 47%
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: 93% of Pwllheli · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (4.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.2%). The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43% across Wales’s towns. On residents with no religion, Pwllheli sits higher than 81% of UK towns: 46%. Where 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns, Pwllheli has 93%.
More adults who have never married than 91% of UK towns: 40%
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
8% of residents give unpaid care, against 10% across Wales’s towns. On average, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 115.
26% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 26% of adults in Pwllheli, 31% across Wales’s towns; 23% have no qualification, against 20%.
Among 530 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, the 216th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.6 in Milford on Sea. Nearest to Pwllheli in age: Wilton (45.4), Cuckfield (45.4), Ferndale (45.4) and Pangbourne (45.5).
The towns around Pwllheli are all older
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 Pwllheli’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. Pwllheli’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,944 people in 2021, against 3,622 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 Pwllheli’s residents
What is the population of Pwllheli?
The 2021 Census counted 3,622 people in Pwllheli’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,000 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Pwllheli?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census, older than 57% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pwllheli?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 6.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pwllheli?
46% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Pwllheli good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Pwllheli’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Pwllheli?
2,645 residents aged 3 and over, 75%, 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.