Photo: Outwivcamera · CC BY-SA 4.0Rhayader sits below 94% of UK towns for households with dependent children (20%)
One-person households: 39% here and 32% across Wales’s towns. Across Rhayader, nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as White British: 96% here, more than in 90% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,837 residents in 883 households.
What the Census says about Rhayader’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Rhayader’s residents are under 50.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 31% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Half of Rhayader is over 50.9, older than 89% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: 7.2% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 31%, more than in 92% of UK towns. In Knighton, the oldest of Powys’ towns by this measure, it is 30%.
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.
Rhayader ranks below 89% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.8%
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 Rhayader, a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Locally, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier. Typically, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
Rhayader households average 2 people, smaller than in 97% 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.
Compared with 3.1% across Wales’s towns, 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here.
More car-free households than 64% of UK towns: 18% in Rhayader
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
There is little gap on households in flats: 14%, about the same as across Wales’s towns. One household in every 6 has no car or van. Few places have as many households in terraced houses: 30% here, more than in 83% of UK towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 83% of UK towns: 3.6%
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
Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 96%; Rhayader has 99%. The usual figure: 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%) or in EU countries (0.9%).
Welsh in Rhayader: 12% of residents speak it
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
219 residents, 12% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 54% of Welsh towns. Within Powys, Ystradgynlais has the largest share, 32%.
Below 57% of UK towns: 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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: 96% of Rhayader · Powys’ towns 94% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Here 42% of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 47%. Typically, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.5%).
A higher share of unpaid carers than 92% of UK towns, at 11%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 60 people. Elsewhere, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. On married adults and civil partners, Rhayader sits lower than nearly three quarters of UK towns: 44%. Set against 38% across Wales’s towns, a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here.
27% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 31% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Rhayader, 27%, and 22% have none, against 20%.
Rhayader is older than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhayader | 1,837 | — | 50.9 | 31% | 20% |
| Llandrindod Wells | 5,429 | 7 mi | 49.5 | 28% | 20% |
| Llanidloes | 2,197 | 10 mi | 50.7 | 29% | 19% |
| Builth Wells | 2,620 | 11.6 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 22% |
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 Rhayader’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 Rhayader’s residents
What is the population of Rhayader?
The 2021 Census counted 1,837 people in Rhayader’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Rhayader?
The median age was 50.9 at the 2021 Census. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rhayader?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 94% across Powys’ towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rhayader?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Rhayader good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Rhayader’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Rhayader?
219 residents aged 3 and over, 12%, 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.