Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Chirk has more crime per resident than four in five UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people
The typical town its size sees 8.8 cases of anti-social behaviour per 1,000 residents; Chirk sees 18.8, or 74 in the 12 months to August 2026. Its police logs show 35.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year. It grades C− for safety on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #20 of 39 in Clwyd. Still, violent crime was down 17% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Chirk
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 17% less violent crime per resident in Chirk than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Chirk has the 464th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Langwith, Esh Winning and Sutton Bridge, higher than Cullingworth, Copthorne and Old Tupton. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Chirk’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 593 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Chirk against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in Chirk identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 52% of Chirk’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (72% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 10% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 213 crimes.
How Chirk’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The community safety domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and fire incidents where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Chirk’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 (community safety domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Wales’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Chirk places 464th of 539 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Mynydd Isa Clwyd | 4,738 | 12.2 | 3.5 | 1.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Penrhyn Bay Clwyd | 4,201 | 13 | 3.7 | 4.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Gresford Clwyd | 4,948 | 11.5 | 5.7 | 5.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 65 | Penyffordd Clwyd | 3,822 | 13.9 | 5.2 | 5.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 461 | Cullingworth West Yorkshire | 3,096 | 37.6 | 12.3 | 5.3 | C− |
| 462 | Copthorne West Sussex | 4,917 | 34.2 | 15.8 | 13.5 | C− |
| 463 | Old Tupton Derbyshire | 4,190 | 39.5 | 10.7 | 5.5 | C− |
| 464 | Chirk Clwyd | 3,930 | 35.4 | 14.9 | 7.6 | C− |
| 465 | Rownhams and Nursling Hampshire | 4,796 | 27.4 | 22.9 | 22.5 | C− |
| 466 | Kegworth Leicestershire | 4,293 | 31.2 | 19.3 | 19.6 | C− |
| 467 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | 4,013 | 39 | 11.6 | 5.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 539 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Chirk, and others in Clwyd.
How crime in Chirk has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -17% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -54% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -33% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -38% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Chirk runs highest on anti-social behaviour (18.8 per 1,000 against 8.8), public order (6.6 per 1,000 against 3.6) and criminal damage & arson (6.9 per 1,000 against 4.5). Other theft sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 114 | 29 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 74 | 18.8 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 27 | 6.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 26 | 6.6 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 1.8 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 6 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Chirk per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Chirk’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 7 collisions with injuries inside Chirk in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Chirk is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Chirk’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Chirk had 2.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Chirk’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Chirk
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chirk | 3,930 | 35.4 | 14.9 | C− |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 29.9 | 8.7 | C+ |
| St Martins | 2,692 | 24 | 5.3 | B |
| Acrefair and Cefn-mawr | 6,905 | 47.9 | 19.7 | D |
| Trevor | 1,397 | 21.7 | 10 | B− |
| Gobowen | 3,046 | 31.9 | 11.4 | C |
| Ruabon | 3,414 | 48 | 19.3 | D |
| Rhosllannerchrugog | 12,789 | 38.7 | 15.8 | C− |
Chirk records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Weston Rhyn, 1.7 miles away, records 29.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Chirk’s 35.4.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Chirk sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Chirk
Is Chirk safe?
Police recorded 35.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Chirk’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 21% of UK towns. Among 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Chirk is 464th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Chirk?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 17%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 54%, shoplifting and theft fell 33% and anti-social behaviour fell 38%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Chirk?
Violence & sexual offences: 114 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (27) and public order (26), with 74 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Chirk compare with Wrexham?
Wrexham records 62.3 violent and sexual offences and 23.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Chirk’s 35.4 and 14.9, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · Welsh Government Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, community safety domain by LSOA · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.