Geography

The County Borough of Wrexham has a geographical area of 193 square miles (499 square km).  This area includes a range of cultural assets. 

  • The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding National Beauty fall within parts of the County Borough.  
  • Wrexham is the home of Wales’ oldest football club and the oldest international football stadium still in use. 
  • The international music festival ‘FOCUS Wales’ takes places annually in Wrexham. 
  • Two National Trust properties (Erddig and Chirk Castle) are situated within the County Borough.

Population

The 2021 Census estimates the population of Wrexham County Borough to be around 135,100 people.

  • There are around 57,900 households in total in Wrexham County Borough. 
  • The median age of someone living here is 42 years and over a quarter of us are in the 45 to 64 years age group. 
  • Wrexham has the highest percentage of 0-19 year olds in North Wales.  
  • 20% of the population of Wrexham County Borough is aged 65 or over, slightly lower than the Wales overall (21.4%). 
  • The percentage of the population overall identifying themselves as able to speak Welsh is 12.2%. 

Education and employment

  • There are 67 schools in Wrexham County Borough – 58 primary schools and 9 secondary schools.  
  • 29% of the population of Wrexham County Borough aged 16 years and over are qualified to NVQ Level 4 or above.
  • Around 60,000 (54.5% of the population aged 16 years and over) are in employment.  Of these, 72% are employed full time and 28% employed part time.
  • Manufacturing, retail trade (including vehicle repairs), and human health and social work, are the sectors which employ the most people in Wrexham County Borough. 
  • Nearly 70% of us travel to work as a driver or a passenger by car or van, whilst 18% of us work at or mainly from home. 

Health and social care

79% of the population of Wrexham County Borough report their health as being very good or good, whilst just over 20% of us consider our day to day activities to be limited to some extent by a long term health problem or disability.

10% of residents of our County Borough aged 5 or over currently provide some unpaid care to others. 

Socio-economic deprivation

Some of our urban areas are amongst the most deprived in Wales. There are 6 Lower Layer Super Output Areas in Wrexham County Borough that are in the 10% most deprived in Wales. 

Future trends

Current research, which is based on estimates of the population in 2018, tells us that in the next five years:

  • The population of Wrexham County Borough is expected to decrease by around 1%.
  • Wrexham County Borough expects to experience the biggest percentage decrease across Wales in the number of children and young people aged 15 years and under – down 6.5%. 
  • An increase in the percentage of our population who are aged 65 years or older of around 6.7% is anticipated. 
  • The number of people aged 65 and over who struggle with the activities of daily life is expected to continue to increase over the next 20 years.