St. Lurach's Church · Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0Maghera records drugs at 4.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence rose 55% in a year. In sum, crimes the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded inside its settlement from September 2023 to August 2026 put Maghera at B+ (#1 of 5 in Mid Ulster): less crime per resident than 71% of UK towns. For its size, it sits below 77% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people on crime per resident. The local count comes to 17.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.7 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 Maghera
Less crime than many places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Maghera has the 167th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Rainford, Pontyclun and Bramley, higher than Cricklade, Skellingthorpe and Bignall End. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime in Northern Ireland
NISRA’s Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 ranks every small area of Northern Ireland on crime and disorder. 19% of Maghera’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 55% more violent crime per resident in Maghera than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Maghera’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 312 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Maghera 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 Maghera 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 +55% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -32% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour +8% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Maghera runs highest on drugs (5 per 1,000 against 1), anti-social behaviour (21.7 per 1,000 against 8.8) and other theft (4.3 per 1,000 against 3.2).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 92 | 21.7 | 8.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 83 | 19.6 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 22 | 5.2 | 4.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 21 | 5 | 1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 18 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 9 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 4 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.2 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 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.
1 in 5 Maghera residents lives in one of Northern Ireland’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
32% 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.
Maghera’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.
Towns its size: Maghera comes 167th of 706
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 164 | Cricklade Wiltshire | 4,030 | 17.9 | 6.5 | 4.1 | B+ |
| 165 | Skellingthorpe Lincolnshire | 3,116 | 16.8 | 7.7 | 4.4 | B+ |
| 166 | Bignall End Staffordshire | 3,184 | 19.5 | 5 | 2.4 | B+ |
| 167 | Maghera Mid Ulster | 4,235 | 17.9 | 6.7 | 3.5 | B+ |
| 168 | Welton Lincolnshire | 4,586 | 20.2 | 4.4 | 3.1 | B+ |
| 169 | Wool Dorset | 5,044 | 19.3 | 5.4 | 4.2 | B+ |
| 170 | Askam in Furness Cumbria | 3,172 | 20.1 | 4.6 | 2.4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 464 | Coalisland Mid Ulster | 5,468 | 27.5 | 11.9 | 6.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | 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 Maghera, and others in Mid Ulster.
Crime in Maghera 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 5 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 Maghera’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 24 collisions with injuries inside Maghera in five years. 4 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 Maghera is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Maghera’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Maghera 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 Maghera’s settlement, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Maghera
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maghera | 4,235 | 17.9 | 6.7 | B+ |
| Magherafelt | 8,996 | 32.2 | 10.3 | C |
| Dungiven | 3,346 | 17 | 4.6 | A− |
Maghera records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 2 neighbours; only Magherafelt records more. Dungiven, 11.1 miles away, records 17 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Maghera’s 17.9.
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 Maghera 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 Maghera
Is Maghera safe?
Police recorded 17.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Maghera’s settlement). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 71% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Maghera is 167th from the least crime. 19% of residents live in neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Maghera?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 55%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 32%, shoplifting and theft rose 100% and anti-social behaviour rose 8%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Maghera?
Violence & sexual offences: 83 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (22) and drugs (21), with 92 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Maghera 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 Maghera’s 17.9 and 6.7, 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.