Photo: Jeff Buck · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Holyhead than in 95% of UK towns
On crimes police recorded inside Holyhead’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades D for safety: #11 of 13 in Gwynedd. What’s more, it has more violent crime than 97% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 82%. Violent crime was down 17% in a year. Violence and property crime split as 58.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Holyhead
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 17% less violent crime per resident in Holyhead than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 5% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
78% of Holyhead’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of Wales (WIMD 2025 community safety), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Holyhead’s D for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 2,602 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Holyhead against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
78% of Holyhead residents live in one of Wales’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 78% 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.
Holyhead’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.
Police in Holyhead identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 50% of Holyhead’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” (66% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 15% 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. 857 crimes.
How Holyhead compares with UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 393 | Ammanford Dyfed | 8,282 | 56.7 | 16.9 | 13 | D |
| 394 | Clay Cross Derbyshire | 8,915 | 58.7 | 14.9 | 16.1 | D |
| 395 | Liskeard Cornwall | 10,901 | 57.4 | 16.2 | 16.6 | D |
| 396 | Holyhead Gwynedd | 11,753 | 58.7 | 15.4 | 19.7 | D |
| 397 | Glastonbury Somerset | 8,304 | 57.1 | 17.1 | 32.1 | D |
| 398 | Alfreton Derbyshire | 8,790 | 57 | 17.2 | 20.9 | D |
| 399 | Aberystwyth Dyfed | 14,646 | 57.8 | 16.6 | 16.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 413 | Caernarfon Gwynedd | 9,831 | 65.9 | 21 | 25.8 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 428 | 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 Holyhead, and others in Gwynedd.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Holyhead runs highest on possession of weapons (1.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), anti-social behaviour (29.4 per 1,000 against 12.4) and drugs (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.9). Vehicle crime sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 617 | 52.5 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 346 | 29.4 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 134 | 11.4 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 111 | 9.4 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 110 | 9.4 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 68 | 5.8 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 43 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 37 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 30 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 20 | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 17 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 9 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 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.
How crime in Holyhead has moved
“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 -17% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -5% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -5% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +8% (towns its size -4%).
Crime in Holyhead 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Parc a'r Mynydd, Ynys Gybi and Tref Cybi; highest in Tref Cybi
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parc a'r Mynydd | 3,708 | 46.8 | 9.1 | |
| Ynys Gybi | 3,685 | 49.4 | 13 | |
| Tref Cybi | 4,360 | 76 | 22.6 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 476 | 29% violent |
| Supermarkets | 77 | 81% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 50 | 74% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 40 | 43% violent |
| Shopping areas | 39 | 33% shoplifting & theft |
| College and university buildings | 28 | 57% anti-social behaviour |
| Nightclubs | 23 | 52% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Tref Cybi records 1.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Holyhead. 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 Holyhead. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Holyhead’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Holyhead’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 23 collisions with injuries inside Holyhead in five years. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 3 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 Holyhead’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Holyhead’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Holyhead’s size at the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people would see about 14 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Holyhead had 8.
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 Holyhead’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Holyhead
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holyhead | 11,753 | 58.7 | 15.4 | D |
| Valley | 2,003 | 21.1 | 6 | B |
| Bodedern | 1,193 | 28.2 | 6.2 | B− |
| Cemaes | 1,023 | 29 | 5.3 | B− |
| Llanerchymedd | 1,155 | 21.9 | 3.5 | B+ |
Holyhead records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Valley, 3.2 miles away, records 21.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Holyhead’s 58.7.
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 Holyhead 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 Holyhead
Is Holyhead safe?
Police recorded 58.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Holyhead’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 5% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Holyhead has less crime per resident than 9%.
What are the safest areas of Holyhead?
By council ward, Parc a'r Mynydd, Ynys Gybi and Tref Cybi record the least violent and household crime per resident: 46.8, 49.4 and 76 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 76 in Tref Cybi.
Is crime going up in Holyhead?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 17%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 5%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 8%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Holyhead?
Violence & sexual offences: 617 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (134) and public order (111), with 346 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.