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All saints church, DarfieldPhoto: ChicXulub · CC BY-SA 4.0
DSafety Grade
Safety in Darfield · police.uk, 2023–2026

Per resident, Darfield records more crime than 89% of UK towns

Burglary runs at 8.2 per 1,000 residents in Darfield, against 1.9 in a typical town its size: police recorded 59 in the 12 months to August 2026. Scored on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area across September 2023 to August 2026, the town lands on D for safety: #38 of 63 in South Yorkshire. By contrast, recorded violence fell 6% in a year. Police counts work out at 38.0 violent and sexual offences and 24.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually.

Violent crime
38
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
24.4
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
7.4
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
19.5
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded

Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Darfield

Violent crime fell over the year

In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% less violent crime per resident in Darfield than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 37% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓

More crime than many places its size

Of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Darfield has the 483rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Brecon, Abertridwr and Senghenydd and Rishton, higher than Sacriston, Hetton-le-Hole and Denbigh. Towns its size ↓

Neighbourhood ranks

49% of Darfield’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.

Safety Grade

Darfield: D for safety, and why

Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 8% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Violent and sexual offences (38 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 18% of UK towns
Homes and vehicles (24.4 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 4% of UK towns
DD

A firm grade. Built on 1,348 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Darfield against every UK town of 1,000 or more.

Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.

By type

What police recorded in the last 12 months

Violence & sexual offences34.8
Anti-social behaviour15
Criminal damage & arson11.5
Burglary8.2
Vehicle crime5.8
Public order4.3
Other crime3.7
Other theft3.3
Drugs2.5
Shoplifting1.2
Possession of weapons0.8
Robbery0.6
Theft from the person0.1
Bicycle theft0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size

Against the typical town its size, Darfield runs highest on burglary (8.2 per 1,000 against 1.9), vehicle crime (5.8 per 1,000 against 2) and other crime (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.5).

Show as a table
CategoryIn the gradeReportsPer 1,000Typical
Violence & sexual offencesViolent25134.822.4
Anti-social behaviournot graded108158.8
Criminal damage & arsonHome & vehicle8311.54.5
BurglaryHome & vehicle598.21.9
Vehicle crimeHome & vehicle425.82
Public ordernot graded314.33.6
Other crimenot graded273.71.5
Other theftnot graded243.33.2
Drugsnot graded182.51
Shopliftingnot graded91.21.8
Possession of weaponsViolent60.80.4
RobberyViolent40.60.2
Theft from the personnot graded10.10
Bicycle theftnot graded000.1

“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.

Neighbourhoods · England-wide rank

49% of Darfield residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods

20%1
28%2
30%3
0%4
22%5
0%6
0%7
0%8
0%9
0%10
Higher crimeLower crime

0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 49% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.

Darfield’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.

What happened next

Police in Darfield identify a suspect less often than across UK towns

Violent crime
Darfield
All UK towns
Homes & vehicles
Darfield
All UK towns
Went to courtSuspect identified, unable to prosecuteNo suspect identifiedCaution, local resolution, otherStill open

No suspect was identified for 85% of Darfield’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (72% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 1% of household crimes reached court.

The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 492 crimes.

Towns its size

Darfield places 483rd of 546 towns its size, the least crime first

#TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesShops & theftSafety
1Merley Dorset5,4898.42.83.8A+
…
141Sprotbrough South Yorkshire7,54616.212.46.8B
…
151Barugh Green and Redbrook South Yorkshire7,54517.911.212B
…
169Finningley South Yorkshire5,91920.89.55.5B
…
195Penistone South Yorkshire8,54121.410.57.5B−
…
480Sacriston County Durham5,18638.523.317.4D
481Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear8,96836.525.68D
482Denbigh Clwyd8,07249.512.714.8D
483Darfield South Yorkshire7,2093824.47.4D
484Brotton North Yorkshire5,39943.718.812.4D
485Brandon County Durham9,50843.5199.6D
486Horbury West Yorkshire9,86847.315.39.2D
…
546City of London London7,820252.8111.5710D−

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 Darfield, and others in South Yorkshire.

1,000 residents · one year

Crime in Darfield per 1,000 residents

Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Shoplifting & theft (not graded)
261
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
184
homes & vehicles
34
shoplifting & theft
67
of the three, per 1,000

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 26 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.

Trend · monthly

How crime in Darfield 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).

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 -6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +37% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -45% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -31% (towns its size +0%).

On the roads

No one died in a collision on Darfield’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 30 collisions with injuries inside Darfield in five years. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.

Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Darfield is one of them.

Counting serious injuries too, a town of Darfield’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 6 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Darfield had 8.

0
people killed, 2021–2025
8
killed or seriously injured
2
of them on foot
1
of them on a bicycle

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 Darfield’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Darfield

ABCD
TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesSafety
Darfield7,2093824.4D
Wombwell16,75840.620.4D
Great Houghton2,48933.923.8D
Brampton4,62037.525.5D
Hemingfield1,81513.411.9B+
Wath upon Dearne16,96245.619.6D
Bolton upon Dearne7,44036.119.9C−
Grimethorpe5,06547.831.7D−

Darfield records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Wombwell, 1.4 miles away, records 40.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Darfield’s 38.

Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

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 Darfield 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 Darfield

Is Darfield safe?

Police recorded 38 violent and sexual offences and 24.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Darfield’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 11% of UK towns. Among 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Darfield is 483rd from the least crime.

Is crime going up in Darfield?

In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 37%, shoplifting and theft fell 45% and anti-social behaviour fell 31%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.

What is the most common crime in Darfield?

Violence & sexual offences: 251 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (83) and burglary (59), with 108 reports of anti-social behaviour.

How does Darfield compare with Barnsley?

Barnsley records 61 violent and sexual offences and 30.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Darfield’s 38 and 24.4, 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 · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · 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.