Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0Kidwelly stands out for criminal damage & arson: 2.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime here is higher than in 76% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 76%. Overall, Kidwelly grades C− for safety (#7 of 23 in Dyfed): more crime per resident than 76% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violence rose 30% in a year. Each year brought 34.1 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Kidwelly
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 30% more violent crime per resident in Kidwelly 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 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Kidwelly has the 741st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than New Romney, Woolavington and Essington, higher than St Columb Major, Trimdon and Cwm. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Kidwelly’s C−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 354 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Kidwelly against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Kidwelly has moved
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 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 +30% (towns its size +1%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Kidwelly runs highest on criminal damage & arson (13 per 1,000 against 4.5), public order (9.8 per 1,000 against 3.6) and burglary (4.3 per 1,000 against 1.9).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 109 | 39.5 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 36 | 13 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 27 | 9.8 | 3.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 25 | 9.1 | 8.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 14 | 5.1 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 12 | 4.3 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 2.9 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.2 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.7 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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.
How Kidwelly’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
44% 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.
Kidwelly’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.
Of 856 towns its size, Kidwelly is 741st from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 187 | Tycroes Dyfed | 2,480 | 17.1 | 3.5 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 471 | Hendy and Fforest Dyfed | 2,996 | 21.6 | 8.7 | 1.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 671 | Llandybie Dyfed | 2,563 | 34.1 | 7.5 | 5.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 682 | Narberth Dyfed | 2,365 | 34.1 | 8.6 | 8.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 738 | St Columb Major Cornwall | 3,663 | 35.8 | 11.7 | 5.9 | C− |
| 739 | Trimdon County Durham | 2,835 | 26.3 | 21.3 | 12.6 | C− |
| 740 | Cwm Gwent | 2,507 | 30.3 | 17.4 | 4.5 | C− |
| 741 | Kidwelly Dyfed | 2,761 | 34.1 | 13.7 | 4.8 | C− |
| 742 | Streethay Staffordshire | 2,166 | 37.3 | 10.6 | 9.1 | C− |
| 743 | Darenth Kent | 2,588 | 28.6 | 19.3 | 38.6 | C− |
| 744 | Godstone Surrey | 2,648 | 28.7 | 19.8 | 5.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | 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 Kidwelly, and others in Dyfed.
Crime in Kidwelly 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 6 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 Kidwelly’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 7 collisions with injuries inside Kidwelly in five years. 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Kidwelly is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Kidwelly’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Kidwelly had 5.
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 Kidwelly’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Kidwelly
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidwelly | 2,761 | 34.1 | 13.7 | C− |
| Trimsaran | 2,190 | 42.3 | 13.2 | C− |
| Carway | 1,401 | 32.1 | 9.6 | C |
| Pembrey | 2,094 | 36.4 | 7.5 | C |
| Pontyates | 1,475 | 40.9 | 8.6 | C− |
| Burry Port | 4,966 | 59.8 | 19.5 | D− |
| Pwll | 1,305 | 32.4 | 10.3 | C |
| Pontyberem | 1,484 | 27 | 9.6 | C+ |
Kidwelly records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Carway, 3.3 miles away, records 32.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Kidwelly’s 34.1.
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
- 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 Kidwelly 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 Kidwelly
Is Kidwelly safe?
Police recorded 34.1 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Kidwelly’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 24% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Kidwelly is 741st from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Kidwelly?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 30%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 184%, shoplifting and theft rose 60% and anti-social behaviour rose 32%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Kidwelly?
Violence & sexual offences: 109 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (36) and public order (27), with 25 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Kidwelly 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 Kidwelly’s 34.1 and 13.7, 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.