Placetrics
City · Wales

Living in Powys

19 neighbourhoods · 79 sub-areas
Crime vs nat. avg
0.51× nat.
49% below nat. avg · 51.5 / 1k / yr · #81 of 318 cities
Good schools
0%
% rated Good/Outstanding
Commute to hub
215 min
#312 of 318 cities
Jobs density
0.37
#224 of 318 cities
Avg rent
£621/mo
+10.3% YoY · #3 of 314 cities
Council tax
Estimated (Band D)
Section 1 / 8

Neighbourhoods in Powys

Tap any row or map polygon to drill into that neighbourhood — hovering on desktop will preview the link before you click. Switch the tab strip above the table to focus on Affordability, Schools, Transport, Safety or Wealth — the columns swap and the default sort follows.

19 neighbourhoods · 79 sub-areas

Rent, scores and YoY change at a glance.

Ystradgynlais & Tawe Uchaf£482+10.3%3746
Welshpool£529+10.3%7026
Newtown South£531+10.3%3710
Machynlleth & Banwy£546+10.3%9597
Newtown North£562+10.3%8286
Llandrindod Wells£572+10.3%7324
Montgomery, Trewern & Berriew£588+10.3%4388
Llanidloes, Blaen Hafren & Llandinam£596+10.3%4283
Llanfyllin & Llanwyddyn£602+10.3%2494
Llanfair Caereinion & Caersws£607+10.3%4196
Abermule, Churchstoke & Kerry£615+10.3%2785
Builth Wells & Llanwrtyd Wells£625+10.3%3775
Brecon£645+10.3%2858
Four Crosses & Guilsfield£659+10.3%4890
Rhayader, Newbridge-on-Wye & Elan Valley£663+10.3%4073
Hay-on-Wye & Talgarth£677+10.3%1379
Sennybridge & Talybont-on-Usk£686+10.3%1290
Knighton & Presteigne£689+10.3%1377
Crickhowell, Llangynidr & Llangorse£826+10.3%993

Sources: ONS, MHCLG, DfT, DESNZ, Defra, Police.uk, Ofsted, Ofcom, HM Land Registry. Some columns (salary, council tax, HPI) are published at council-area level.

Section 2 / 8

Where to look in Powys

Three short answers to "where should I focus?" in Powys. Each list is filtered from the same neighbourhood data above — the basis of each shortlist is stated above the list so you know what's been weighted.

Top 5 cheapest

Lowest estimated monthly rent. Rent is the LAD-published ONS PIPR median, scaled per neighbourhood by local sale prices (Land Registry).

  1. 1.Ystradgynlais & Tawe Uchaf£482/mo
  2. 2.Welshpool£529/mo
  3. 3.Newtown South£531/mo
  4. 4.Machynlleth & Banwy£546/mo
  5. 5.Newtown North£562/mo
Top 5 most desirable

Highest composite liveability — combines safety, schools, transport access and rental affordability into one 0–100 score (higher = more liveable).

  1. 1.Machynlleth & Banwy95/100
  2. 2.Newtown North82/100
  3. 3.Llandrindod Wells73/100
  4. 4.Welshpool70/100
  5. 5.Four Crosses & Guilsfield48/100
Section 3 / 8

Cost of living

Median rent and council tax across Powys.

Avg rent
£621/mo
#3 of 314 cities
Council tax
Sale price
£245,000
+1.1% YoY
Yrs to deposit
4.0 yr
Rent & price breakdownBy bedroom count · property type · affordability
council-area level rent by bedroom
ONS PIPR median for the council area
1 bed£463/mo
2 bed£578/mo
3 bed£698/mo
4 bed£954/mo
Sale price by property type
HMLR HPI average
Detached£320,002
Semi-detached£210,991
Terraced£170,586
Flat£95,060
Affordability
Price-to-earnings8.1×
Rent / take-home25%
Council tax (estimated, full council area)
Mortgage (25y, 5%)£1,289/mo

Rent: ONS PIPR (council area). Council tax: VOA + MHCLG. Sale prices: HM Land Registry.

Section 4 / 8

Safety in Powys

Crime in Powys runs at 49% below the national average. Above median (#81 of 318 cities) The supporting per-1,000-residents-per-year rate is 51.5, averaged across the council area's neighbourhoods.

How crime is measured

What's counted. Incidents recorded by territorial police forces and published to data.police.uk each month. Rates use the latest 12 months of data divided by the area's mid-2024 ONS resident population — so the figure is reported incidents per 1,000 residents per year.

Anti-social behaviour is the largest category in most areas and is worth reading carefully — it's a community-reports bucket (noise, rowdiness, nuisance), not "crime" in the legal sense. ASB and shoplifting are weighted lower than violent offences in the safety score on each page.

Caveats. The denominator is residents, so workday and tourist destinations can look worse than they feel for someone living there. Greater Manchester forces stopped publishing to data.police.uk in 2020, so figures for those areas are intentionally blank rather than misleadingly low.

Total crime / 1k / yr
51.5
#81 of 318 cities
Crime detailTop crime types · safest neighbourhoods in this council area
All crime categories
incidents / 1,000 residents / year — sorted high → low
Violent & sexual offences
24.1
Criminal damage & arson
5.4
Public order
4.5
Anti-social behaviour
3.9
Other theft
3.5
Burglary
2.6
Drugs
2.4
Other crime
1.7
Shoplifting
1.5
Vehicle crime
1.5
Possession of weapons
0.9
Robbery
0.7
Theft from the person
0.7
Bicycle theft
0.6
Safest neighbourhoods in Powys
by safety score (higher = safer)
Machynlleth & Banwy97/100
Llanfair Caereinion & Caersws96/100
Llanfyllin & Llanwyddyn94/100

Source: data.police.uk — incident counts adjusted for population, then averaged across the council area's neighbourhoods. National average = England + Wales population-weighted mean.

Section 5 / 8

Schools in Powys

Distribution of Ofsted ratings amongst schools serving this council area.

Good or Outstanding
Outstanding only
Good w/in 2 km
0%
#288 of 318 cities
Schools rated
School breakdownOfsted distribution · best neighbourhoods for schools
Ofsted rating distribution
Outstanding (count)
Good (count)
Requires improvement
Inadequate
Best neighbourhoods for schools in Powys
by school score
Newtown South0/100
Brecon0/100
Newtown North0/100

Ofsted school inspection ratings, latest inspection per school.

Section 6 / 8

Transport in Powys

Modelled door-to-door commute from this council area to nearby employment hubs. Closest first.

Best hub
215 min
#312 of 318 cities
To Birmingham
241 min
Median across local areas
To Bristol
267 min
Median across local areas
To Manchester
275 min
Median across local areas
Transport detailAll city commute times · mode share · best-connected neighbourhoods
Commute to major UK cities
public transport, off-peak typical
Birmingham
241 min
Bristol
267 min
Manchester
275 min
Cardiff
280 min
Liverpool
282 min
London
307 min
Sheffield
323 min
Leeds
366 min
Glasgow
446 min
Edinburgh
450 min
How residents travel to work
Census 2021, mode share
Car58%Public1%Active6%WFH30%
Best-connected neighbourhoods in Powys
by transport score
Llandrindod Wells72/100
Welshpool53/100
Newtown South33/100

DfT Journey Time Statistics + ONS Travel-to-Work.

Section 7 / 8

Job access from Powys

Powys has 0.37 jobs per resident locally. Below median

Jobs per resident
0.37
#224 of 318 cities
Drive to 5,000+ jobs
PT to 5,000+ jobs
5y jobs growth
-7.3%
Job access detailReachability tiers · sector mix in this council area
Reachable jobs by mode
Drive — 100 jobs
PT — 100 jobs
Drive — 500 jobs
PT — 500 jobs
Drive — 5,000 jobs
PT — 5,000 jobs
Local job mix by sector
ONS BRES, % of local jobs
Retail & hospitality
24.5%
Health & social care
15.5%
Manufacturing
12.2%
Education
6.8%
Construction
5.4%
Professional & business svcs
4.8%
Tech & ICT
1.6%
Finance & insurance
0.8%

ONS BRES (jobs density) + DfT job-accessibility minutes.

FAQ

Frequently asked about Powys

Short answers to the questions we get most often. Each answer is anchored in the data above and links onward where you can dig deeper.

What is the average rent in Powys?
The median monthly rent across Powys is £621, based on ONS Private Rental Prices data. Individual neighbourhoods vary — see the shortlist above for the cheapest and most desirable areas.
Where is the cheapest place to rent in Powys?
The cheapest neighbourhood in Powys by estimated median rent is Ystradgynlais & Tawe Uchaf at approximately £482/month. The full top-five cheapest list and our methodology are above.
What's the best neighbourhood to live in Powys?
By our composite liveability score (which blends safety, transport, schools, rent affordability and EPC), the top-ranked neighbourhood in Powys is Machynlleth & Banwy at 95/100. The score is editorial; see /methodology/scoring/liveability for the formula.
Is Powys a safe area?
Powys has an average safety score of 68/100 across its constituent neighbourhoods (higher is safer). The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, inverted so 100 means the safest 1% of England + Wales.
What is the average salary in Powys?
The median annual resident salary in Powys is £30,275, per ONS ASHE 2025. This is salary for people who live in Powys, not for people who commute in to work there. Workplace median salary is published separately.
What is the average house price in Powys?
The average property price in Powys is approximately £233,245 according to HM Land Registry's House Price Index. Individual neighbourhoods vary — typically ±20% around this council area median.
What's the rental yield in Powys?
Gross rental yield in Powys is approximately 2.8% — the council-area level median rent annualised over the council-area level median sale price. Net yield (after agency, void, maintenance and tax) typically runs 30–40% lower.
How long does it take to save a deposit in Powys?
Saving a 10% deposit at the council area median sale price on the council area median salary, while putting away 10% of takehome pay each month, takes approximately 4.0 years in Powys. Faster if you save more, slower if rents are eating into savings.
Is gigabit broadband available in Powys?
73% of premises in Powys are gigabit-capable per Ofcom Connected Nations 2025. Coverage is patchier in older terraces and rural fringes — check your specific postcode for service availability.
What's the unemployment rate in Powys?
2.7% of 16-64 residents in Powys are on the DWP Claimant Count — Universal Credit while seeking work, or Jobseeker's Allowance. That's the live monthly local indicator. It's narrower than the ONS Labour Force Survey "ILO unemployment rate" (which counts anyone actively job-seeking on a separate denominator) and narrower again than Census 2021's "% unemployed" (which is calculated against all 16+ residents and so isn't directly comparable).
How many neighbourhoods are in Powys?
Powys contains 19 neighbourhood neighbourhoods covering 79 sub-areas (local areas). Browse the full list at the bottom of this page or use the neighbourhood map above to drill into a specific area.
How does Powys compare to other UK areas?
Powys's average liveability score is 39/100. To compare it side-by-side with another local authority, use the comparison tool at /compare. To see how every council area in Wales ranks across rent, safety, schools and transport, see /gb/wales.
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Section 8 / 8

All sub-areas in Powys

Every local area, ordered by crawl priority. Most readers want the neighbourhood-level view — these are for deep-link cases or external search-engine arrivals.