Photo: john bristow · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 48% of Machynlleth’s residents speak Welsh
With residents with no religion at 51%, Machynlleth is ahead of 95% of UK towns on that count. One-person households are more common here than in 99% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 2,161 residents in the village, living in 1,030 households. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 43%.
What the Census says about Machynlleth’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
993 residents, 48% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 89% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Machynlleth is older than 76% of UK towns: a median age of 48.4
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 8.8%, below 80% of UK towns. For Machynlleth, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 26%.
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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of full-time students than 92% of UK towns, at 3.7%
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%.
In Machynlleth, a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, full-time students come to 8%. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 7.9%.
Smaller households than 94% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
Across Wales’s towns, 27% of households have dependent children; in Machynlleth, 23%. On the census count, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
More households without a car or van than 92% of UK towns: 28%
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 three quarters of UK towns: 16%. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 21% across Wales’s towns. In Machynlleth, 15% of households live in a detached house.
Below 73% of UK towns: 4.4% of residents were born outside the UK
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
Where 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns, Machynlleth has 99%. By way of comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.8%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%).
Machynlleth’s Welsh speakers make up 48% of residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 48% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (993 people): more than in 89% of Welsh towns. No town in Powys beats Ystradgynlais (32%).
Machynlleth ranks below 94% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 39%
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: 94% of Machynlleth · Powys’ towns 94% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (3.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.3%). Machynlleth has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 69% of UK towns, at 94%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 43% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 91% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 82 residents. The benchmark for married adults and civil partners across Wales’s towns: 43%. Higher than in four fifths of UK towns: 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care; across Wales’s towns the figure is 10%.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 29%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Machynlleth’s adults have no qualification (20% across Wales’s towns), and 29% have one at degree level (31%).
No nearby town is as young as Machynlleth
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
- “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 Machynlleth’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 Machynlleth’s residents
What is the population of Machynlleth?
The 2021 Census counted 2,161 people in Machynlleth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Machynlleth?
The median age was 48.4 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Machynlleth?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 94% across Powys’ towns. 4.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Machynlleth?
51% said they had no religion and 39% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.
Is Machynlleth good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Machynlleth’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Machynlleth?
993 residents aged 3 and over, 48%, 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.