Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0In Brecon, 38% of households are one person living alone, more than in 97% of UK towns
Households in terraced houses make up 33%, against 29% across Wales’s towns. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 23% here, fewer than in 84% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 8,257 people lived in Brecon, in 3,723 households. Residents aged 65 and over account for 25%.
What the Census says about Brecon’s people
A town people move to
13% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 1.4 times the share across Wales’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
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.
Slower than most: +1% since 2011, behind 81% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Brecon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,300 people in 2011; 8,400 in 2024.
Mid-2015 to mid-2016 brought the biggest yearly rise, 80 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+28%) and 0 to 15 least (−20%).
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 54% of UK towns: 9.7%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 25–29: 7.9% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. With a median age of 44.4, Brecon is younger than just over half of UK towns. Measured more widely, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Brecon, 44.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
A higher share of residents who moved in within the year than 93% of UK towns, at 13%
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%.
8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns, against 5.3% in Brecon. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 9.1% across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 92% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Powys’ towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 2.6% here is much the same as across Wales’s towns.
Above 74% of UK towns: 20% of households have no car or van
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
The share of households in flats tops 69% of UK towns: 15%. To put it in context, 21% of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns. In Brecon, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house.
Residents whose main language is English: 93%, a lower share than 85% 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 15%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (5.9%), then in EU countries (3.7%). More residents born outside the UK than in 78% of UK towns: 11%. Elsewhere, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 20% of those born abroad (against 23% across Wales’s towns).
Welsh in Brecon: 11% of residents speak it
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 884 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: fewer than in 58% of Welsh towns. No town in Powys beats Ystradgynlais (32%).
Fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 79% of UK towns: 45%
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: 88% of Brecon · Powys’ towns 94% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.3%). For comparison, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns. Brecon has fewer residents who describe themselves as White British than 72% of UK towns, at 88%. Compared with 47% across Wales’s towns, 42% of residents said they have no religion here.
Adults who have never married make up 35% in Brecon, more than in 68% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 83% of UK towns: 42%. 222 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Unpaid carers are more common here than in 57% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Brecon’s adults: 33% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
199th lowest median age among 424 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Brecon in age: Milnrow (44.4), Wallingford (44.4), Bedwas (44.4) and Easington (44.5).
Every neighbour of Brecon has an older population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brecon | 8,257 | — | 44.4 | 25% | 23% |
| Talgarth | 1,252 | 7.4 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 25% |
| Llangynidr | 1,038 | 8.7 mi | 54.7 | 35% | 22% |
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.
- “Powys’ towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Powys (or Wales), summed the same way as Brecon’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. Brecon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,257 people in 2021, against 8,257 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 Brecon’s residents
What is the population of Brecon?
The 2021 Census counted 8,257 people in Brecon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,400 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Brecon?
The median age was 44.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 51% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Brecon?
88% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 94% across Powys’ towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Brecon?
42% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Brecon good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Brecon’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Brecon?
884 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, 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.