Photo: Darren Wyn Rees at Aberdare Blog · CC BY 3.0Abercynon stands out for public order: 2.6 times the rate of a typical town its size
It has more violent crime than 84% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 75%. Year on year, 39.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. All told, Abercynon grades C− for safety (#20 of 32 in Mid Glamorgan): more crime per resident than 82% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Abercynon
More crime than many places its size
Of 715 UK towns of 4,000 to 9,000 people, Abercynon has the 601st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Clowne, Pershore and Throckley, higher than East Tilbury, Harworth and Bircotes and Middleton St George. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Abercynon’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 1,016 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Abercynon 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, Abercynon runs highest on public order (9.3 per 1,000 against 3.6), vehicle crime (4.2 per 1,000 against 2) and criminal damage & arson (7.8 per 1,000 against 4.5). Burglary and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 237 | 37.2 | 22.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 59 | 9.3 | 3.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 50 | 7.8 | 4.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 35 | 5.5 | 8.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 27 | 4.2 | 2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 19 | 3 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 11 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 10 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 7 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.5 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 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.
How Abercynon’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
0% 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.
Abercynon’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.
Abercynon is 601st of 715 UK towns of 4,000 to 9,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 136 | Pontyclun Mid Glamorgan | 5,801 | 17.2 | 7.5 | 6.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 350 | Llanharan and Brynna Mid Glamorgan | 8,106 | 27.2 | 6.7 | 3.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 392 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | 5,042 | 24.7 | 11.6 | 6.2 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 404 | Ynysybwl Mid Glamorgan | 4,580 | 28.1 | 8.7 | 3.6 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 598 | East Tilbury Essex | 5,751 | 37.2 | 15.7 | 8.8 | C− |
| 599 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | 8,885 | 31.9 | 21.2 | 13.2 | C− |
| 600 | Middleton St George County Durham | 4,756 | 40.9 | 12.3 | 5 | C− |
| 601 | Abercynon Mid Glamorgan | 6,376 | 39.9 | 13.5 | 5.3 | C− |
| 602 | Edenbridge Kent | 7,903 | 37 | 16.4 | 13.9 | C− |
| 603 | Caerleon Gwent | 7,329 | 36.7 | 16.7 | 6 | C− |
| 604 | Cottam Lancashire | 5,507 | 37.4 | 16.1 | 8.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 715 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Abercynon, and others in Mid Glamorgan.
Crime in Abercynon 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 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of Abercynon’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% 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 7% of violent and 3% 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. 347 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 -3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +2% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -23% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -49% (towns its size +0%).
No one died in a collision on Abercynon’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 19 collisions with injuries inside Abercynon in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Abercynon is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Abercynon’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Abercynon had 3.
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 Abercynon’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Abercynon
Abercynon records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Mountain Ash and Gelligaer record more. Treharris, 1.4 miles away, records 24.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Abercynon’s 39.9.
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 Abercynon 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 Abercynon
Is Abercynon safe?
Police recorded 39.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Abercynon’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 18% of UK towns. Among 715 UK towns of 4,000 to 9,000 people, Abercynon is 601st from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Abercynon?
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 fell 23% and anti-social behaviour fell 49%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Abercynon?
Violence & sexual offences: 237 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (59) and criminal damage & arson (50), with 35 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Abercynon compare with Pontypridd?
Pontypridd records 46.7 violent and sexual offences and 14.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Abercynon’s 39.9 and 13.5, 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 · 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.