Photo: Jonathan Clitheroe · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime per resident in Rotherham runs higher than in 98% of UK towns
For its size, it sits below 8% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more on crime per resident. Rotherham’s letter for safety is D−, worked out from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026: #53 of 63 in South Yorkshire. The yearly rates were 61.7 violent and sexual offences and 25.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 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 Rotherham
Neighbourhood ranks
58% of Rotherham’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 7% 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.
The grade: D− for Rotherham
A firm grade. Built on 18,694 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Rotherham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
58% of Rotherham residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
7% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 58% 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.
Rotherham’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.
How Rotherham compares with UK towns of 50,000 to 97,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 96 | Torquay Devon | 52,034 | 62.6 | 20.2 | 23.6 | D− |
| 97 | Canterbury Kent | 55,107 | 61.9 | 23.2 | 37.8 | D− |
| 98 | Dewsbury West Yorkshire | 63,730 | 63.4 | 22 | 15.7 | D− |
| 99 | Rotherham South Yorkshire | 71,535 | 61.7 | 25.5 | 25.7 | D− |
| 100 | Preston Lancashire | 94,502 | 60.8 | 26.8 | 27.7 | D− |
| 101 | Dudley West Midlands | 64,277 | 61.2 | 27 | 17.6 | D− |
| 102 | Walsall West Midlands | 70,777 | 62.9 | 26.3 | 27.8 | D− |
| 103 | Barnsley South Yorkshire | 71,394 | 61 | 30.5 | 27.8 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Doncaster South Yorkshire | 87,440 | 72.6 | 38.2 | 43.3 | 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 Rotherham, and others in South Yorkshire.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Rotherham runs highest on robbery (3.3 per 1,000 against 1.4), other crime (4.6 per 1,000 against 2.1) and burglary (7 per 1,000 against 3.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 4,060 | 56.8 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,747 | 24.4 | 17.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,475 | 20.6 | 10.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 956 | 13.4 | 7.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 813 | 11.4 | 7.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 622 | 8.7 | 6.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 563 | 7.9 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 500 | 7 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 331 | 4.6 | 2.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 264 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 238 | 3.3 | 1.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 145 | 2 | 1.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 56 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 48 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Crime in Rotherham 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 26 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 31 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Sitwell, Keppel and Rotherham East; highest in Boston Castle
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sitwell | 8,553 | 18.4 | 11.9 | |
| Keppel | 9,190 | 39.2 | 16 | |
| Rotherham East | 16,748 | 57.8 | 24.4 | |
| Greasbrough | 3,645 | 59.7 | 23.5 | |
| Rotherham West | 14,619 | 60.7 | 26.9 | |
| Dalton & Thrybergh | 3,058 | 70.5 | 28.4 | |
| Boston Castle | 14,948 | 106.4 | 39.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1,565 | 58% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 864 | 33% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 720 | 39% violent |
| College and university buildings | 78 | 63% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 64 | 39% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 63 | 37% violent |
| Shopping areas | 62 | 39% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 54 | 63% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 43 | 37% homes & vehicles |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Boston Castle records 2.1× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Rotherham. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Rotherham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Rotherham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 71% of Rotherham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 19% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (65% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 5% 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. 6,249 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +0% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles +11% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +29% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -2% (towns its size -2%).
Eight people died in collisions on Rotherham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 558 collisions with injuries inside Rotherham in five years, in which eight people died (2 were pedestrians). 195 people were killed or seriously injured: 45 on foot and 19 on a bicycle.
That is more than is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Rotherham’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rotherham’s own rate (2.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Rotherham had 54.5 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 23% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Rotherham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Rotherham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotherham | 71,535 | 61.7 | 25.5 | D− |
| Greasbrough | 3,859 | 60.1 | 21.5 | D− |
| Brinsworth | 8,764 | 18.3 | 13.7 | B− |
| Whiston | 3,940 | 23 | 14.7 | C+ |
| Rawmarsh | 18,892 | 50 | 23.6 | D |
| Thrybergh and Dalton | 5,858 | 62.2 | 25 | D− |
| Treeton | 3,272 | 23.6 | 13.1 | C+ |
| Waverley and Catcliffe | 5,342 | 32.8 | 19.9 | C− |
Rotherham records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Thrybergh and Dalton records more. Greasbrough, 1.7 miles away, records 60.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Rotherham’s 61.7.
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 Rotherham 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 Rotherham
Is Rotherham safe?
Police recorded 61.7 violent and sexual offences and 25.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Rotherham’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Rotherham has less crime per resident than 8%.
What are the safest areas of Rotherham?
By council ward, Sitwell, Keppel and Rotherham East record the least violent and household crime per resident: 18.4, 39.2 and 57.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 106.4 in Boston Castle.
Is crime going up in Rotherham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 11%, shoplifting and theft rose 29% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Rotherham town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 54 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 63% of them violent, and Boston Castle ward records 106.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in June and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Rotherham?
Violence & sexual offences: 4,060 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (1,475) and public order (956), with 1,747 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Rotherham compare with Sheffield?
Sheffield records 42.4 violent and sexual offences and 23.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Rotherham’s 61.7 and 25.5, 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.