Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Violent crime per resident is higher in Builth Wells than in 87% of UK towns
Violence recorded locally climbed 9% in a year. Police counts work out at 41.8 violent and sexual offences and 12.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. On crimes police recorded inside Builth Wells’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades C− for safety: #2 of 7 in Powys. At 44.7 per 1,000 residents, violent crime here runs well past the 22.4 of a typical town its size (117 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026).
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Builth Wells
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Builth Wells 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 Builth Wells’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 377 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Builth Wells 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 Builth Wells’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
52% 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.
Builth Wells’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.
How Builth Wells compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 434 | Crickhowell Powys | 2,108 | 23.3 | 5.9 | 3.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 533 | Hay-on-Wye Powys | 2,065 | 25.2 | 8 | 5.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 715 | Knighton Powys | 2,911 | 31.4 | 13.9 | 5.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 736 | Machynlleth Powys | 2,161 | 36.1 | 10.9 | 5.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 773 | Buckfastleigh Devon | 2,720 | 42.2 | 11.1 | 5.2 | C− |
| 774 | Llanidloes Powys | 2,197 | 43 | 10.6 | 3.6 | C− |
| 775 | Sharlston West Yorkshire | 2,163 | 41.8 | 12 | 3.5 | C− |
| 776 | Builth Wells Powys | 2,620 | 41.8 | 12 | 7.7 | C− |
| 777 | Spilsby Lincolnshire | 3,671 | 40.4 | 13.5 | 7.8 | C− |
| 778 | Glanaman Dyfed | 3,866 | 39.4 | 14.7 | 6.3 | C− |
| 779 | Wickham Hampshire | 2,170 | 39.9 | 14.1 | 8.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Builth Wells, and others in Powys.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Builth Wells runs highest on violence & sexual offences (44.7 per 1,000 against 22.4), public order (6.9 per 1,000 against 3.6) and criminal damage & arson (5.7 per 1,000 against 4.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 117 | 44.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 28 | 10.7 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 18 | 6.9 | 3.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 15 | 5.7 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 3.4 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 8 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 3.1 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 3.1 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 6 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 1.1 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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.
Crime in Builth Wells 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 10 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.
How crime in Builth Wells has moved
Dyfed Powys Police published four months short or not at all (Jan 2024, Feb 2024, Mar 2024 and Apr 2024), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 +9% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -23% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -23% (towns its size +2%).
No one died in a collision on Builth Wells’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Builth Wells in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 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 Builth Wells is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Builth Wells’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; Builth Wells had 1.
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 Builth Wells’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Builth Wells
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Builth Wells | 2,620 | 41.8 | 12 | C− |
| Llandrindod Wells | 5,429 | 78 | 20.7 | D− |
| Rhayader | 1,837 | 48 | 14.3 | D |
Builth Wells records less graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.
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
- Some months are short. Dyfed Powys Police published January 2024, February 2024, March 2024 and April 2024 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Builth Wells 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 Builth Wells
Is Builth Wells safe?
Police recorded 41.8 violent and sexual offences and 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Builth Wells’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 17% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Builth Wells has less crime per resident than 14%.
Is crime going up in Builth Wells?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 23%, shoplifting and theft fell 23% and anti-social behaviour rose 115%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Builth Wells?
Violence & sexual offences: 117 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (18) and criminal damage & arson (15), with 28 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.