Place Description
Aberystwyth is home to institutions of cultural importance including the National Library of Wales and Screen and Sound Archive and the oldest university in Wales. National organisations such as Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, Merched y Wawr, the Women’s Institute, the Farmers’ Union of Wales, Hybu Cig Cymru and Cymdeithas yr Iaith are also located here. Aberystwyth is the main service centre for mid Wales with Bronglais General Hospital and offices of the Welsh Government, the local authority and Dyfed Powys Police situated here. The rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol converge in the harbour of this seaside town and its beaches attract many visitors. The bay is also home to the much loved bottle nose dolphin. Whilst being proud of its Welsh language and culture, Aberystwyth celebrates its cosmopolitan population and its environment. It was among the first towns in Wales to welcome refugees and to pledge to become plastic free.
Download data for this placeCategory Description
This is a medium-sized town in category 7. Its characteristics reflect the presence of a university as a major employer and the relatively large student population. The towns have substantially higher than average people aged 16-24 years old, student and single person households, private rented households and fewer households in owner-occupation. More people work in part-time employment, and in the accommodation, food and service occupations and in education and many more people have A-levels and degrees than average. There are a higher proportion of households with no access to a car. They have a higher proportion of the population identifying as being from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic group than in most of Wales. Fewer people were born in Wales and the proportion identifying as having Welsh nationality is low although Welsh speaking is above average for Wales.
Our place categorisation is : Category 7
Our inter-relationship assessment is :
Please see the methodology page for more detail.
Select between displaying the map of flows, or the graphical summary of flows. Commuting data is taken from the Census 2011 and is based on all usual residents ages 16 and over in employment the week before the census (20 March 2011). Please see the methodology page for more detail about the variables and data sources.
The lines display the total numbers and percentages of commuters travelling between the selected place and other places with a population above 2000 people, within Wales and England.
The end of each line is the centre of the destination. In Wales these will be the centres of the CBUAs. In England these will be the centres of English border authorities or English regions. Hovering over an area will give you the name of the authority, region or CBUA. Hence care needs to be used when interpreting the maps as the end point could represent commuters travelling across a very large area and who live or work closer to the selected place than the line immediately suggests.
Flows with fewer than 3 commuters have been suppressed to maintain anonymity. To increase the clarity of the map only the top 20 flows are displayed.
The thickness of the line denotes the relative proportion of commuters. Warm colours (for example, orange) indicate that more people are moving into a place, whereas cold colours (for example, blue) indicate that more people are moving out of a place.
Hover over a line to display a summary of the number of commuters between the two places. The destination is given at the top of the pop-up box together with the total number of commuters. The rank gives the relative importance of the flow for the selected place.
There are two radial graphs summarising commuting into, out of, or within the selected place. Each graph displays data relating to commuting flows in the form of a circle, with the axes of the graph representing each commuting flow variable. All the variables are shown as percentages, so the further along the axis the variable falls, the higher the percentage. The left-hand graph represents the workplace destinations of the commuters who live in the selected place, and this includes people who work from home, people who commute to work within the selected place, and people who commute to work outside of the selected place. The right-hand graph represents the home locations of the people who commute to work into the selected place from elsewhere.
The blue line represents the place shown in the graph's title. The red line represents the average for Wales.
Hover over a point on the axis to show the actual percentage for each variable.
Living in: Aberystwyth
Living outside: Aberystwyth
People who live within Aberystwyth and commute to:
People who live outside Aberystwyth and commute in from:
Select between displaying the map of flows, or the graphical summary of flows. Migration data is taken from the Census 2011 and is based on all usual residents who were living at a different address one year earlier (27 March 2010). Please see the methodology page for more detail about the variables and data sources.
The lines display the total numbers and percentages of migrants travelling between the selected place and other places with a population above 2000 people, within Wales and England.
The end of each line is the centre of the destination. In Wales these will be the centres of the CBUAs. In England these will be the centres of English border authorities or English regions. Hovering over an area will give you the name of the authority, region or CBUA. Hence care needs to be used when interpreting the maps as the end point could represent people migrating across a very large area and who have moved shorter distances than the line immediately suggests.
Flows with fewer than 3 migrants have been suppressed to maintain anonymity. To increase the clarity of the map only the top 20 flows are displayed.
The thickness of the line denotes the relative proportion of migrants. Warm colours (for example, orange) indicate that more people are moving into a place, whereas cold colours (for example, blue) indicate that more people are moving out of a place.
Hover over a line to display a summary of the number of migrants between the two places. The destination is given at the top of the pop-up box together with the total number of migrants. The rank gives the relative importance of the flow for the selected place.
There are two radial graphs summarising migration into, out of, or within the selected place. Each graph displays data relating to migration flows in the form of a circle, with the axes of the graph representing each migration flow variable. All the variables are shown as percentages, so the further along the axis the variable falls, the higher the percentage. The left-hand graph represents the destinations of the migrants who lived in the selected place, and this includes people who moved within the selected place, and people who moved outside of the selected place. The right-hand graph represents the locations of the people who moved into the selected place from elsewhere.
The blue line represents the place shown in the graph's title. The red line represents the average for Wales.
Hover over a point on the axis to show the actual percentage for each variable.
Lived in: Aberystwyth
Lived outside: Aberystwyth
People who lived within Aberystwyth and moved to:
People who lived outside Aberystwyth and moved in from:
The lines display the modelled number of trips between the selected place and other places with a population above 2000 people within Wales and England. Trips can be filtered by mode of transport, the time of day and the day of the week. Please see the methodology page for more detail about the variables and data sources.
The end of each line is the centre of the destination. In Wales these will be the centres of the CBUAs. In England these will be the centres of English border authorities or English regions. Hovering over an area will give you the name of the authority, region or CBUA. Hence care needs to be used when interpreting the maps as the end point could represent people travelling across a very large area and who have travelled shorter distances than the line immediately suggests.
Flows with fewer than 10 trips have been suppressed to maintain anonymity. To increase the clarity of the map only the top 20 flows are displayed.
The thickness of the line denotes the relative proportion of trips. Warm colours (for example, orange) indicate that more people are moving into a place, whereas cold colours (for example, blue) indicate that more people are moving out of a place.
Hover over a line to display a modelled of the number of trips between the two places. The destination is given at the top of the pop-up box together with the total number of trips. The rank gives the relative importance of the flow for the selected place.
Connectivity by car maps travel time (minutes) from the centre of the select place outwards along the road network. There are various caveats in deciding the route taken and the calculation of travel times which are outlined in the methodology. The resulting maps depict 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 hour and 1.5 hours travel times from the centre of the place. The boundaries of the zones are indicative of how far a person could travel and that there is an element of uncertainty depending on time of day, day of the week, weather conditions etc. So please bear this in mind when interpreting the maps.
Connectivity by train summarises some key metrics relating to the accessibility of railway stations in Wales and along the border in England to the selected place and some of their characteristics. It also includes a map of the nearest stations to the selected place. There is also a tool to allow you to map how far you can travel from a selected station to other stations in Wales and selected stations along the border in England based on the train timetable (published January 2022).
Station metrics include the closest three stations to the selected place in terms of travel distance (in kilometres) and travel time (in minutes) by private transport. If a place has more than three stations, then the stations with the highest daily passenger usage are shown. It shows the station’s average daily passenger numbers to give an indication of its importance (and hence level of service), the number of different train routes and lines served by the station, whether a line is on a direct route to an airport or ferry terminal (direct transport connection / type of connection), and whether it is a request stop. It also has some information on facilities and a disability accessibility classification. The latter uses a classification made available by Transport for Wales and the detailed definitions can be found on the methodology page.
Briefly, Category A - The station has step-free access to and between all platforms via level access, lifts or ramps; Category B - The station does not meet category A, but has step-free access to either all platforms or at least one platform; Category B1 - step-free access to all platforms and may include long or steep ramps. Access between platforms may be via the street; Category B2 - Some step-free access to all platforms, but major barriers exist which are likely to restrict the ability of some people to use the station; Category B3 - Some step-free access, may be in one direction only and not to all platforms.
Information about station facilities and accessibility is indicative only. Those wishing to utilise these facilities should check with the station’s operator or website prior to travelling.
Closest three stations:
Locations of nearest stations to selected place, including the closest three stations. Click on the stations to display information on station metrics. It also includes maps of accessibility to the station by private transport, bus (in the morning), walking and cycling within 30 minutes travel time. The black dots are the locations of the principal bus stops.
The tool allows you to map how far you can travel from the selected station to other stations in Wales and selected stations along the border in England based on the train timetable (published January 2022). It allows you to select weekday or weekends and whether the train journey is direct or requires a change for different journey time periods. Hovering over the station on the map will give you its name.
The tool allows you to map how far you can travel on the bus within Wales from the selected place based on the bus timetable (published in August 2021). It allows you to select weekday or weekends, the time of day, and whether the bus journey is direct or requires a change for different journey time periods. The maps include a maximum of a 20 minutes’ walk to a bus stop from the centre of the selected place and a maximum of a 20 minutes’ walk from a bus stop at your destination. Waiting times are included when changing buses. The colours reflect the frequency of buses for the chosen period of the day – the darker the colour, the more buses that serve that particular area within the selected time period. The black dots are the locations of the principal bus stops.
The maps show how far you can cycle from the selected place for different journey time periods. It is based on an average cycling speed of 11.5 mph. The model has been set up to prefer routes along quieter roads and to avoid terrain that may make cycling difficult (e.g. steep gradients or unsuitable surfaces). It does not include time taken for breaks, traffic congestion or weather conditions.
The maps show how far you can walk from the selected place for different journey time periods. It is based on an average walking speed of 3 mph. The model has been set up to prefer routes on footpaths along quieter roads and to avoid terrain that may make walking difficult (e.g. steep gradients or unsuitable surfaces). It does not include time taken for breaks or for weather conditions.
Hover over the graph to expand the display when comparing two or more places.
The bold circle on the graph is your chosen place
The grey bar is the average for similar sized places in the same Category as your chosen place.
The red bar is the Welsh average.
The interactive graph displays the inter-relationships for the places you have selected by public, commercial, and social assets, such as schools, hospitals and shops.
Places to the left of the graph are more dependent on other places for the particular asset.
Places to the right of the graph are more independent for the particular asset.
This gives you an idea of how independent or otherwise a place is compared to other places in Wales over 2000 people.
Download data for this place