Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 2,161 in Powys, Wales.
Machynlleth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 38% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−): mean household income £41,673; 4.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £184,000 in the last three years, 4.3 times what households in the Powys council area earn in a year.
Dyfed Powys Police published 32 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published. 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 Machynlleth 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 Machynlleth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 109 buildings inside Machynlleth’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
36% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1885.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Machynlleth.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Machynlleth has 109 listed buildings on Cadw’s list: 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include Owain Glyndwr's Parliament House, Grade I. Relative to its size, Machynlleth keeps 504 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, higher than both Powys’ towns (224) and Wales’s towns (18). 36% of homes were built before 1919.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
It is listed below. 441 pupils attend Machynlleth’s one secondary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Bro HyddgenLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 441 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Machynlleth has 1.2 jobs. Of the commuters living in the town, 40% work in the town itself. After the car, walking came next, for 31% of commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Home ownership stands at 54% of households. Private rents average £621 a month across the Powys council area. The median sale, £184,000, comes from 61 standard sales inside Machynlleth’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 9 |
| Semi-detached | £190,000 | 17 |
| Terraced | £170,000 | 35 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 143 offences in Machynlleth and 14 cases of nuisance behaviour. Of all the crimes, 58% were violence and sexual offences. Also worth knowing: the violent crime rate is 36.1 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
76% of Machynlleth’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, lower than both Powys’ towns (78%) and Wales’s towns (78%). A disability affects 23% of people in the town. One GP practice serves the town. The nearest A&E to Machynlleth is Bronglais General Hospital, 15.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Machynlleth | Powys | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy.
26% of residents have reached 65. Machynlleth has a median age of 48.4 years. Among adults, 29% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Machynlleth | Powys | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 9.5% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 21% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 27% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.2% | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Powys and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Machynlleth. Best known first.
Art galleryMOMA Walesin town
MuseumOwain Glyndŵr's Parliament Housein town
MuseumCentre for Alternative Technology2.6 km outside town, to the northAttractionAttractionMachynlleth Town Clockin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 notable people were born in Machynlleth.
Gareth Glyn: GarethGlyn, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machynlleth | 2,161 | — | — | A− | C | C |
| Tywyn | 3,134 | 10 | B− | B+ | B− | C+ |
| Dolgellau | 2,599 | 11 | B− | A− | C | B− |
| Borth | 1,115 | 11 | — | C+ | C | C+ |
Borth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
109 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade I and 4 Grade II*. That is 20.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Owain Glyndwr's Parliament House.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £184,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £170,000, semi-detached houses £190,000 and detached houses £300,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Village in Powys, Wales
Machynlleth is a built-up area of 2,161 people, in the Powys 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.