Photo: Jeff Gogarty · CC BY-SA 2.0Kington trails 87% of UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people on crime per resident
Criminal damage & arson stands out: 8.3 per 1,000 residents in Kington, against 3.2 in a typical town its size, with 20 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Recorded violence rose 12% in a year. What’s more, the town grades C for safety overall: more crime per resident than 71% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The local count comes to 34.4 violent and sexual offences and 9.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Kington
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% more violent crime per resident in Kington than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Kington has the 457th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Shelley, Camelford and Berry Hill, higher than Widdrington Station, Dolgellau and Pembrey. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Kington’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 319 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Kington 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, Kington runs highest on criminal damage & arson (8.3 per 1,000 against 3.2), violence & sexual offences (33 per 1,000 against 16.6) and public order (4.5 per 1,000 against 2.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 80 | 33 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 20 | 8.3 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 16 | 6.6 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 4.5 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 3.3 | 2.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Police in Kington identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Kington’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 14% 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. 115 crimes.
Set against 550 towns its size, Kington is 457th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 104 | Credenhill Herefordshire | 2,334 | 15.9 | 3.4 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 454 | Widdrington Station Northumberland | 2,495 | 30.3 | 13.3 | 3.5 | C |
| 455 | Dolgellau Gwynedd | 2,599 | 33.5 | 10.1 | 12.4 | C |
| 456 | Pembrey Dyfed | 2,094 | 36.4 | 7.5 | 1.6 | C |
| 457 | Kington Herefordshire | 2,423 | 34.4 | 9.5 | 9.5 | C |
| 458 | Dipton County Durham | 2,653 | 26.5 | 17.5 | 4.5 | C |
| 459 | Congresbury Somerset | 2,795 | 33.4 | 10.7 | 13 | C |
| 460 | Shenstone Staffordshire | 2,196 | 21 | 23.4 | 6.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Kington, and others in Herefordshire.
How crime in Kington has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 +12% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft -55% (towns its size +4%).
Crime in Kington 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 9 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.
Three people died in collisions on Kington’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 8 collisions with injuries inside Kington in five years, in which three people died (2 were pedestrians). 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 3 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Kington’s three people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Kington’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Kington 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 Kington’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Kington
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kington | 2,423 | 34.4 | 9.5 | C |
| Presteigne | 1,929 | 34.6 | 14.3 | C− |
| Weobley | 1,273 | 26.2 | 12.1 | C+ |
| Knighton | 2,911 | 31.4 | 13.9 | C |
| Hay-on-Wye | 2,065 | 25.2 | 8 | B− |
Kington records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 4 neighbours; only Presteigne and Knighton record more. Weobley, 7.4 miles away, records 26.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Kington’s 34.4.
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 Kington 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 Kington
Is Kington safe?
Police recorded 34.4 violent and sexual offences and 9.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Kington’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 29% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Kington is 457th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Kington?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 55% and anti-social behaviour fell 11%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Kington?
Violence & sexual offences: 80 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (20) and public order (11), with 16 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Kington compare with Hereford?
Hereford records 41.7 violent and sexual offences and 11.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Kington’s 34.4 and 9.5, 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 · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · 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.