Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 72% of Y Bala’s residents speak Welsh
Against a figure of 32% across Wales’s towns, the share of one-person households in Y Bala comes in at 40%. At 37%, the share of households in terraced houses is higher than in 91% of UK towns. The village had 1,993 residents in 945 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 7% of residents give unpaid care in the village.
What the Census says about Y Bala’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
1,410 residents, 72% 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).
23% of residents are 65 or over, a share 62% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: 7.4% of residents. The median age in Y Bala is 45.4, higher than in 57% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 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
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 89% of UK towns: 6.7%
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, 8% of adults are full-time students; in Y Bala, 5.3%. To put it in context, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer households with dependent children than 85% of UK towns: 23%
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.
Across Wales’s towns, households average 2.3 people; in Y Bala, 2.1. Typically, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns. Here, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households in flats: 18%, a higher share than 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
Across Wales’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 21%; Y Bala has 23%. The share of households in detached houses stands at 22%. The comparison figure for households in flats is 14% across Wales’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 95%, a lower share than 79% 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
At 7.4%, residents born outside the UK sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (5.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1%). Set beside that, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns.
Can speak Welsh: 72% of Y Bala’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
The 2021 Census found 1,410 Welsh speakers aged 3 and over, 72% of that age group, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 97% of them. The highest share in Gwynedd belongs to Caernarfon (82%).
Y Bala: 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 83% 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: 92% of Y Bala · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The Muslim share of residents is 1.3%. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43% across Wales’s towns. Y Bala has fewer residents with no religion than four fifths of UK towns, at 36%. Add to that, in Y Bala, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 90% across Wales’s towns.
Y Bala ranks below 92% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 53. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 39%, more than in 86% of UK towns. Married adults and civil partners: 43% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 30%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Y Bala, 30% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 21% have no qualification at all (20%).
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 Y Bala’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 Y Bala’s residents
What is the population of Y Bala?
The 2021 Census counted 1,993 people in Y Bala’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Y Bala?
The median age was 45.4 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Y Bala?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 7.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Y Bala?
36% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Y Bala good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Y Bala’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Y Bala?
1,410 residents aged 3 and over, 72%, 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.