Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Hay-on-Wye trails 72% of UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people on crime per resident
Recorded violence fell 11% in a year. Taking everything together, Hay-on-Wye scores B−: close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. On burglary, vehicle crime and damage it beats 62% of UK towns; on violent crime, only 43%. Each year brought 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 8.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Hay-on-Wye
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Hay-on-Wye 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 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000 people, Hay-on-Wye has the 1,249th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bishops Lydeard, Roche and Holmbridge, higher than Ellington, Melton and South Bents. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime in Wales
The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 ranks every neighbourhood in Wales on community safety. 19% of Hay-on-Wye’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Hay-on-Wye: B− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 186 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Hay-on-Wye 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 Hay-on-Wye 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 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 -11% (towns its size +3%).
Hay-on-Wye is 1,249th of 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 96 | Four Crosses Powys | 1,469 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 2.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 401 | Guilsfield Powys | 1,160 | 14.2 | 3.9 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 594 | Llangynidr Powys | 1,038 | 15.2 | 5.8 | 1.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1091 | Crickhowell Powys | 2,108 | 23.3 | 5.9 | 3.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 1246 | Ellington Northumberland | 2,131 | 18.2 | 14.9 | 15.2 | B− |
| 1247 | Melton Suffolk | 1,608 | 23.6 | 9.5 | 5.2 | B− |
| 1248 | South Bents Tyne and Wear | 1,113 | 23.1 | 10.2 | 103.7 | B− |
| 1249 | Hay-on-Wye Powys | 2,065 | 25.2 | 8 | 5.8 | B− |
| 1250 | Misterton Somerset | 1,037 | 21 | 12.3 | 9.4 | B− |
| 1251 | Cliffe Kent | 2,531 | 22.8 | 10.5 | 2 | B− |
| 1252 | Thornwood Common Essex | 1,030 | 19.1 | 14.2 | 4.5 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 1764 | 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 Hay-on-Wye, and others in Powys.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Hay-on-Wye runs highest on violence & sexual offences (24.2 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 50 | 24.2 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 12 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 9 | 4.4 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 4.4 | 1.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 7 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 3 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 1 | 0.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 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.
Crime in Hay-on-Wye 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 7 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 Hay-on-Wye’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4 collisions with injuries inside Hay-on-Wye in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Hay-on-Wye is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Hay-on-Wye’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; Hay-on-Wye 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 Hay-on-Wye’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye 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 Hay-on-Wye 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 Hay-on-Wye
Is Hay-on-Wye safe?
Police recorded 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Hay-on-Wye’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 48% of UK towns. Among 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000 people, Hay-on-Wye is 1,249th from the least crime. 19% of residents live in neighbourhoods in Wales’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Hay-on-Wye?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 43%, shoplifting and theft rose 114% and anti-social behaviour fell 14%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Hay-on-Wye?
Violence & sexual offences: 50 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (9) and burglary (9), with 12 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Hay-on-Wye compare with Hereford?
Hereford records 41.7 violent and sexual offences and 11.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Hay-on-Wye’s 25.2 and 8, 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.