Photo: M J Richardson · CC BY-SA 2.0Carmarthen has more crime per resident than 98% of UK towns
For its size, it sits below 3% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people on crime per resident. On top of that, on the record of crimes police recorded inside Carmarthen’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it takes D− for safety: #20 of 23 in Dyfed. Per 1,000 residents a year, 71.2 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What’s behind Carmarthen’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 3,966 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Carmarthen against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Carmarthen runs highest on theft from the person (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.3), drugs (6.7 per 1,000 against 1.9) and shoplifting (16.5 per 1,000 against 6.1).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,194 | 72.6 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 272 | 16.5 | 6.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 261 | 15.9 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 206 | 12.5 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 200 | 12.2 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 146 | 8.9 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 110 | 6.7 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 76 | 4.6 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 71 | 4.3 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 46 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 21 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 19 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 10 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 9 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Police in Carmarthen identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 49% of Carmarthen’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 13% 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. 877 crimes.
How Carmarthen compares with UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 283 | Aberystwyth Dyfed | 14,646 | 57.8 | 16.6 | 16.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 295 | Mexborough South Yorkshire | 15,560 | 63.6 | 24.7 | 11.5 | D− |
| 296 | Peterlee County Durham | 19,750 | 58.1 | 30.5 | 23.5 | D− |
| 297 | Adwick le Street South Yorkshire | 18,326 | 54.9 | 34.5 | 16.5 | D− |
| 298 | Carmarthen Dyfed | 16,448 | 71.2 | 18.9 | 23.2 | D− |
| 299 | Tilbury Essex | 14,187 | 55.6 | 35.9 | 14.6 | D− |
| 300 | Tredegar Gwent | 14,534 | 60.9 | 32 | 14.3 | D− |
| 301 | Milford Haven Dyfed | 14,251 | 74.9 | 22.6 | 12.7 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 307 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Carmarthen, and others in Dyfed.
Crime in Carmarthen 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 20 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 27 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Carmarthen’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
14% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 13% 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.
Carmarthen’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.
Lowest recorded crime in Carmarthen Town West, Llangunnor and Carmarthen Town North and South; highest in Carmarthen Town North and South
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmarthen Town West | 5,518 | 40.6 | 9.1 | |
| Llangunnor | 2,075 | 47.1 | 11.2 | |
| Carmarthen Town North and South | 8,855 | 81.8 | 22.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 472 | 56% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 290 | 36% violent |
| Hospitals | 287 | 60% violent |
| Shopping areas | 273 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| College and university buildings | 224 | 68% violent |
| Petrol stations | 154 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 107 | 60% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 26 | 62% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Carmarthen Town North and South records 1.9× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Carmarthen. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Carmarthen. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Carmarthen’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Violent crime held steady over the year
Dyfed Powys Police published four months short or not at all (Jan 2024, Feb 2024, Mar 2024 and Apr 2024), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +0% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +29% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +22% (towns its size -4%).
No one died in a collision on Carmarthen’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 93 collisions with injuries inside Carmarthen in five years. 30 people were killed or seriously injured: 12 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Carmarthen’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Carmarthen’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Carmarthen had 36.7 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 40% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Carmarthen’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Carmarthen
Carmarthen records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Pontyberem, 7.9 miles away, records 27 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Carmarthen’s 71.2.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 287 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Carmarthen’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- Some months are short. Dyfed Powys Police published January 2024, February 2024, March 2024 and April 2024 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Carmarthen 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 Carmarthen
Is Carmarthen safe?
Police recorded 71.2 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Carmarthen’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Carmarthen has less crime per resident than 3%.
What are the safest areas of Carmarthen?
By council ward, Carmarthen Town West, Llangunnor and Carmarthen Town North and South record the least violent and household crime per resident: 40.6, 47.1 and 81.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 81.8 in Carmarthen Town North and South.
Is crime going up in Carmarthen?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 29% and anti-social behaviour rose 22%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Carmarthen town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 107 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 60% of them violent, and Carmarthen Town North and South ward records 81.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in September.
What is the most common crime in Carmarthen?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,194 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (272) and public order (206), with 261 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Carmarthen compare with Llanelli?
Llanelli records 60.2 violent and sexual offences and 21.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Carmarthen’s 71.2 and 18.9, 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.