Photo: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 4.0Tywyn is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55.9
By its share of households with dependent children (17%), Tywyn is below 98% of UK towns. At 41%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 99% of UK towns. The town is home to 3,134 residents in 1,562 households, by the 2021 Census. Unpaid carers: just over a tenth of the total.
What the Census says about Tywyn’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
1,172 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 86% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Tywyn’s residents are under 55.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 36% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Tywyn at 3,300 in 2011 and 3,200 in 2024, down 1%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 89% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
From 2011 to 2024, 89% of UK towns grew faster than Tywyn: −1%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Tywyn’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 3,300 people in 2011; 3,200 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +15% for the 30 to 44 to −12% for the 16 to 29.
36% of Tywyn is 65 or over, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 8.9% of residents, 1.6 times the share across Wales’s towns. For Tywyn, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.2%. As a reference point, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Tywyn, 55.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students: 3.5%, a lower share than 94% 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%.
26% of Tywyn’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Locally, 8.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Across Wales’s towns, full-time students come to 8%.
2 people per household, fewer than in 99% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 2.1%, against 3.1% across Wales’s towns.
Tywyn: 23% of households have no car or van, above 83% 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
By its share of households in detached houses (33%), Tywyn is above 62% of UK towns. Households without a car or van: 21% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. 16% of households live in a flat or apartment. On households in terraced houses, Tywyn sits higher than 60% of UK towns: 23%.
In Tywyn, 2.9% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 92% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.3%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Higher than in 93% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language. Measured more widely, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
38% of Tywyn’s residents say they can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 1,172 residents aged 3 and over, 38%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: more than in 86% of Welsh towns. No town in Gwynedd beats Caernarfon (82%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 97%, a higher share than 94% 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: 97% of Tywyn · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.7%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.3%). Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 90%. Christians make up 51% of residents, against 43% across Wales’s towns.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 79% of UK towns, at 28%
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
Married adults and civil partners: 46% here and 43% across Wales’s towns. As a reference point, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 126.
A degree-level qualification for 25% 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 Tywyn, 21%, while 25% hold one at degree level (31%).
24th oldest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest West Chiltington (63.1). Nearest to Tywyn in age: Mere (55.4), Tywardreath (55.7), Hunmanby (56.2) and Hoveton and Wroxham (56.4).
Every nearby town is younger than Tywyn
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tywyn | 3,134 | — | 55.9 | 36% | 17% |
| Borth | 1,115 | 7 mi | 52.2 | 29% | 18% |
| Barmouth | 1,986 | 9.8 mi | 47 | 25% | 23% |
| Bow Street | 1,101 | 9.9 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Machynlleth | 2,161 | 10.4 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Penrhyn-coch | 1,378 | 10.8 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 29% |
| Aberystwyth | 14,646 | 11.7 mi | 25 | 14% | 19% |
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 Tywyn’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. Tywyn’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 3,134 people in 2021, against 3,134 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 Tywyn’s residents
What is the population of Tywyn?
The 2021 Census counted 3,134 people in Tywyn’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 3,200 people in mid-2024, 1% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Tywyn?
The median age was 55.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 97% of UK towns. 7.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 36% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Tywyn?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tywyn?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Tywyn good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Tywyn’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Tywyn?
1,172 residents aged 3 and over, 38%, 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.