Photo: Outwivcamera · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Rhayader than in 89% of UK towns
The typical town its size sees 2.4 cases of public order per 1,000 residents; Rhayader sees 13.6, or 25 in the 12 months to August 2026. Recorded violence rose 8% in a year. Measured on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D. Annual rates stand at 48.0 violent and sexual offences and 14.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Rhayader
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 8% more violent crime per resident in Rhayader than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The D for Rhayader, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 307 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Rhayader 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, Rhayader runs highest on public order (13.6 per 1,000 against 2.4), criminal damage & arson (10.9 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (54.4 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 100 | 54.4 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 28 | 15.2 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 25 | 13.6 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 20 | 10.9 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 2.2 | 1.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 3 | 1.6 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 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.
How Rhayader compares with UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Four Crosses Powys | 1,469 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 2.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 321 | Guilsfield Powys | 1,160 | 14.2 | 3.9 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 458 | Llangynidr Powys | 1,038 | 15.2 | 5.8 | 1.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 965 | Talgarth Powys | 1,252 | 26.7 | 10.5 | 4.2 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1156 | Bournmoor County Durham | 1,991 | 31.8 | 28.3 | 5.9 | D |
| 1157 | Harpur Hill Derbyshire | 1,121 | 46.4 | 14 | 5.7 | D |
| 1158 | Fochriw Gwent | 1,148 | 41.8 | 19.2 | 3.5 | D |
| 1159 | Rhayader Powys | 1,837 | 48 | 14.3 | 5.9 | D |
| 1160 | Newcastle Emlyn Dyfed | 1,842 | 51.7 | 10.6 | 7.5 | D |
| 1161 | Penwithick Cornwall | 1,706 | 50.1 | 12.8 | 4.5 | D |
| 1162 | Charnock Richard Lancashire | 1,098 | 36.4 | 27 | 25.2 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Rhayader, and others in Powys.
Crime in Rhayader 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 2 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 Rhayader 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 +8% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -19% (towns its size +0%), anti-social behaviour +17% (towns its size -1%).
One person died in collisions on Rhayader’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 14 collisions with injuries inside Rhayader in five years, in which one person died. 7 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, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Rhayader’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Rhayader’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; Rhayader had 7.
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 Rhayader’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Rhayader
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhayader | 1,837 | 48 | 14.3 | D |
| Llandrindod Wells | 5,429 | 78 | 20.7 | D− |
| Llanidloes | 2,197 | 43 | 10.6 | C− |
| Builth Wells | 2,620 | 41.8 | 12 | C− |
Rhayader records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 3 neighbours; only Llandrindod Wells records more. Llanidloes, 10 miles away, records 43 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Rhayader’s 48.
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 Rhayader 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 Rhayader
Is Rhayader safe?
Police recorded 48 violent and sexual offences and 14.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Rhayader’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 11% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Rhayader has less crime per resident than 4%.
Is crime going up in Rhayader?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 8%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 19%, shoplifting and theft fell 82% and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Rhayader?
Violence & sexual offences: 100 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (25) and criminal damage & arson (20), 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.