Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Violence recorded in Cullybackey is down 33% in a year, while towns its size held steady
Its Safety Grade, B− (#6 of 8 in Mid and East Antrim), rests on crimes the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded inside its settlement from September 2023 to August 2026: close to the middle of UK towns. The Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded 10 cases of shoplifting in Cullybackey in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 3.8 per 1,000 against a typical 1.8. In a usual year, 26.8 violent and sexual offences and 7.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cullybackey
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 33% less violent crime per resident in Cullybackey 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, Cullybackey has the 551st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Chiseldon, Grendon and Linton, higher than Newstead, Ash Green and Coggeshall. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Cullybackey’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 272 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cullybackey 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 Cullybackey 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; England and Wales towns only).
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 -33% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -34% (towns its size +0%).
How Cullybackey’s neighbourhoods rank in Northern Ireland
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime and disorder domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and deliberate fires where people live, on 2014–15 figures (NISRA’s latest edition), so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Cullybackey’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (Super Output Area, about 2,000 people) in the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (crime and disorder domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Cullybackey runs highest on shoplifting (3.8 per 1,000 against 1.8) and anti-social behaviour (15.8 per 1,000 against 8.8). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 51 | 19.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 42 | 15.8 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 10 | 3.8 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 9 | 3.4 | 4.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 7 | 2.6 | 1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 4 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.4 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| 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.
Of 856 towns its size, Cullybackey is 551st 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Broughshane Mid and East Antrim | 3,097 | 10.9 | 5.2 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 165 | Ahoghill Mid and East Antrim | 3,537 | 15.9 | 3.9 | 3.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 255 | Whitehead Mid and East Antrim | 3,537 | 18.3 | 5.1 | 3.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 548 | Newstead Nottinghamshire | 2,204 | 25.3 | 8.6 | 2.6 | B− |
| 549 | Ash Green Warwickshire | 2,562 | 21.1 | 12.9 | 2.9 | B− |
| 550 | Coggeshall Essex | 3,767 | 24.7 | 9.4 | 6.4 | B− |
| 551 | Cullybackey Mid and East Antrim | 2,659 | 26.8 | 7.3 | 7.9 | B− |
| 552 | Eggborough North Yorkshire | 2,440 | 22.4 | 11.8 | 2.9 | B− |
| 553 | Brimscombe and Thrupp Gloucestershire | 2,187 | 16.1 | 18.4 | 3.4 | B− |
| 554 | Hoveton and Wroxham Norfolk | 3,620 | 28 | 6.5 | 8.5 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Cullybackey, and others in Mid and East Antrim.
Crime in Cullybackey 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 5 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 Cullybackey’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 15 collisions with injuries inside Cullybackey in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 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 Cullybackey is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Cullybackey’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; Cullybackey had 4.
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 is as the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded it: the Department for Transport’s adjustment, which evens out different ways of recording injuries, covers Great Britain’s forces only, and the towns its size are Great Britain’s. There’s no national rate here: more than three quarters of Northern Ireland’s road deaths (77%) happen outside every town’s settlement boundary. Source: PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions, 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Cullybackey’s settlement, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cullybackey
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cullybackey | 2,659 | 26.8 | 7.3 | B− |
| Ahoghill | 3,537 | 15.9 | 3.9 | A− |
| Ballymena | 31,205 | 37.9 | 15.2 | C− |
| Broughshane | 3,097 | 10.9 | 5.2 | A |
| Randalstown | 5,151 | 18.5 | 8.4 | B |
Cullybackey records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 4 neighbours; only Ballymena records more. Ahoghill, 2.5 miles away, records 15.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cullybackey’s 26.8.
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 Cullybackey 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 settlement can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Cullybackey
Is Cullybackey safe?
Police recorded 26.8 violent and sexual offences and 7.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cullybackey’s settlement). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 46% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Cullybackey is 551st from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Cullybackey?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 33%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 33%, shoplifting and theft rose 33% and anti-social behaviour fell 34%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Cullybackey?
Violence & sexual offences: 51 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (10) and criminal damage & arson (9), with 42 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Cullybackey compare with Ballymena?
Ballymena records 37.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Cullybackey’s 26.8 and 7.3, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime (Police Service of Northern Ireland), 36 months to August 2026, points inside the settlement boundary · NISRA Census 2021, data zones best-fitted to the NISRA Settlement Development Limits 2015 (settlement totals from NISRA where it publishes them) · NISRA Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017, crime and disorder domain by Super Output Area (residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area) · PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions 2021–2025 (Open Data NI), points inside the settlement 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.