Photo: Colin Pyle · CC BY-SA 2.0Blaengarw records public order at 3 times the rate of a typical town its size
Out of every 1,000 residents, 29.4 violent and sexual offences and 7.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually. All told, Blaengarw grades C+ for safety: close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 25% in a year. For its size, it sits below 22% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people on crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Blaengarw
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 25% more violent crime per resident in Blaengarw 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 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Blaengarw has the 961st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Talgarth, Martlesham and Sutton Valence, higher than Pontyberem, Stock and Tockwith. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Blaengarw’s C+
A fairly firm grade. Built on 196 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Blaengarw 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 Blaengarw 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 +25% (towns its size +3%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Blaengarw runs highest on public order (7.3 per 1,000 against 2.4) and violence & sexual offences (27 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 48 | 27 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 13 | 7.3 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 8 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 6 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 3 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 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.
Towns its size: Blaengarw comes 961st of 1,214
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 575 | Cefn Cribwr Mid Glamorgan | 1,379 | 19.6 | 4.1 | 2.7 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 818 | Pont Rhyd-y-cyff Mid Glamorgan | 1,481 | 20.3 | 9.9 | 3.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 829 | Llangeinor Mid Glamorgan | 1,016 | 22 | 8.5 | 1.6 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 934 | Gilfach Goch Mid Glamorgan | 1,531 | 28.3 | 6.8 | 1.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 958 | Pontyberem Dyfed | 1,484 | 27 | 9.6 | 2.3 | C+ |
| 959 | Stock Essex | 1,573 | 22.7 | 14 | 5.7 | C+ |
| 960 | Tockwith North Yorkshire | 1,788 | 25.5 | 11.2 | 2.2 | C+ |
| 961 | Blaengarw Mid Glamorgan | 1,779 | 29.4 | 7.3 | 3.6 | C+ |
| 962 | Overton Lancashire | 1,016 | 23.6 | 13.1 | 3 | C+ |
| 963 | Great Bentley Essex | 1,746 | 26.2 | 10.9 | 6.9 | C+ |
| 964 | Corby Glen Lincolnshire | 1,006 | 27.8 | 9.3 | 5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Blaengarw, and others in Mid Glamorgan.
Crime in Blaengarw 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 4 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 3 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 Blaengarw’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 0 collisions with injuries inside Blaengarw in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Blaengarw is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Blaengarw’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Blaengarw had 0.
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 Blaengarw’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Blaengarw
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaengarw | 1,779 | 29.4 | 7.3 | C+ |
| Pontycymer | 2,421 | 33 | 7.2 | C+ |
| Nant-y-moel | 2,378 | 24.8 | 6.6 | B− |
| Ogmore Vale | 3,098 | 33.1 | 7.5 | C |
| Croeserw | 1,294 | 61.8 | 19.3 | D− |
| Maesteg | 18,342 | 36.7 | 15.5 | C− |
| Pont Rhyd-y-cyff | 1,481 | 20.3 | 9.9 | B |
| Llangeinor | 1,016 | 22 | 8.5 | B− |
Blaengarw records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Nant-y-moel, 2.1 miles away, records 24.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Blaengarw’s 29.4.
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 Blaengarw 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 Blaengarw
Is Blaengarw safe?
Police recorded 29.4 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 Blaengarw’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 41% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Blaengarw is 961st from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Blaengarw?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 25%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 33%, shoplifting and theft fell 44% 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 Blaengarw?
Violence & sexual offences: 48 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (13) and criminal damage & arson (6), with 8 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.