Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0One-person homes: 40% of households in Welshpool
In Welshpool the average household is 2.1 people, beside 2.3 across Wales’s towns. Households without a car or van: 27% of the total. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are scarce here: 36%, fewer than in 97% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 5,460, in 2,560 households.
In Welshpool, 25% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 71% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.4% of residents. The usual figure: 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. Half of Welshpool’s residents are over 45.7, older than in 59% of UK towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% here and 12% across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Welshpool, 45.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Only 4.2% of adults are full-time students in Welshpool
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 Welshpool, 21% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 38% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. More residents who moved in within the year than in 88% of UK towns: 11%. Across Wales’s towns, the share of full-time students is 8%.
Households with dependent children: 23%, a lower share than 85% 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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.2%, about the same as across Wales’s towns. The share of households with dependent children across Wales’s towns is 27%.
20% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 83% of UK towns don’t reach
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 terraced houses is 23%, against 29% across Wales’s towns. Typically, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns. Across Welshpool, just over a quarter of households live in a detached house.
Below 88% of UK towns: 92% of residents have English as their main language
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
With residents born outside the UK at 11%, Welshpool is ahead of 76% of UK towns on that count. As a reference point, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (8.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
A Welsh-speaking share of 12% in Welshpool
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 611, or 12% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 51% of them. No town in Powys beats Ystradgynlais (32%).
Welshpool: 42% of residents said they have no religion, above 59% 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: 89% of Welshpool · Powys’ towns 94% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 89%, against 90% across Wales’s towns. Residents with no religion make up 47% across Wales’s towns. Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (8.9%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.2%). 49% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 57% of UK towns.
Welshpool ranks above 85% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 39%
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 155. To put it in context, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 9.4%, from the figure across Wales’s towns.
24% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Welshpool’s adults: 24% with a degree-level qualification and 25% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 244th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Welshpool in age: Kings Worthy (45.6), Winterton (45.7), Llangennech (45.7) and Winslow (45.8).
Welshpool is younger than 5 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welshpool | 5,460 | — | 45.7 | 25% | 23% |
| Guilsfield | 1,160 | 2.5 mi | 54.6 | 35% | 20% |
| Four Crosses | 1,469 | 7.3 mi | 49.2 | 26% | 24% |
| Llanymynech | 1,040 | 8.5 mi | 37.8 | 17% | 30% |
| Llanfyllin | 1,118 | 9 mi | 46.4 | 25% | 25% |
| Minsterley | 1,719 | 9.3 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 28% |
| Pant | 1,173 | 9.5 mi | 57.1 | 35% | 19% |
| Pontesbury | 1,968 | 10.5 mi | 53.2 | 34% | 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 Welshpool’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 Welshpool’s residents
What is the population of Welshpool?
The 2021 Census counted 5,460 people in Welshpool’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Welshpool?
The median age was 45.7 at the 2021 Census, older than 59% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Welshpool?
89% 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 Welshpool?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Welshpool good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Welshpool’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Welshpool?
611 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.