Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Swinton records more crime than 86% of UK towns
That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside Swinton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #34 of 63 in South Yorkshire. Annual rates stand at 41.2 violent and sexual offences and 16.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. The typical town its size sees 0.7 cases of possession of weapons per 1,000 residents; Swinton sees 1.5, or 24 in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 6% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Swinton
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% more violent crime per resident in Swinton than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 20% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 341 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, Swinton has the 267th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Liversedge, Leatherhead and Houghton Regis, higher than Bedlington, Rochford and Hoyland. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
30% of Swinton’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 18% 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.
What’s behind Swinton’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 2,743 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Swinton 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, Swinton runs highest on possession of weapons (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.7), other crime (3 per 1,000 against 1.8) and burglary (3.4 per 1,000 against 2.4). Drugs and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 679 | 42.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 208 | 13.1 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 123 | 7.7 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 100 | 6.3 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 88 | 5.5 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 54 | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 54 | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 47 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 38 | 2.4 | 6.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 25 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 24 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 9 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Among 341 towns its size, Swinton ranks 267th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Darton South Yorkshire | 15,016 | 25.6 | 12.2 | 5.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 176 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe South Yorkshire | 13,090 | 24.2 | 19.1 | 7.6 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 202 | Swallownest and Aston South Yorkshire | 14,912 | 31.1 | 15.3 | 7.8 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 241 | Armthorpe South Yorkshire | 14,161 | 31.7 | 21 | 13.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 264 | Bedlington Northumberland | 16,186 | 41.3 | 16.2 | 18.3 | D |
| 265 | Rochford Essex | 12,617 | 42.2 | 15.3 | 8.2 | D |
| 266 | Hoyland South Yorkshire | 15,527 | 35.9 | 21.6 | 18.6 | D |
| 267 | Swinton South Yorkshire | 15,911 | 41.2 | 16.4 | 8 | D |
| 268 | Buxton Derbyshire | 20,048 | 43.8 | 14.1 | 17.1 | D |
| 269 | Staveley Derbyshire | 15,151 | 44.7 | 13.3 | 10.5 | D |
| 270 | Swanscombe Kent | 15,462 | 36.8 | 21.3 | 11.2 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 341 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Swinton, and others in South Yorkshire.
Crime in Swinton 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
30% of Swinton residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
18% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 30% 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.
Swinton’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.
Police in Swinton identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 76% of Swinton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 17% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (66% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 4% 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. 842 crimes.
How crime in Swinton has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 -20% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -16% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +20% (towns its size -4%).
Where in Swinton police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 210 | 49% violent |
| Petrol stations | 63 | 52% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 48 | 52% violent |
| Supermarkets | 46 | 46% violent |
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 Swinton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Two people died in collisions on Swinton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 57 collisions with injuries inside Swinton in five years, in which two people died. 15 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Swinton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Swinton’s own rate (2.5) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Swinton had 18.9 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Swinton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Swinton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swinton | 15,911 | 41.2 | 16.4 | D |
| Rawmarsh | 18,892 | 50 | 23.6 | D |
| Mexborough | 15,560 | 63.6 | 24.7 | D− |
| Wath upon Dearne | 16,962 | 45.6 | 19.6 | D |
| Thrybergh and Dalton | 5,858 | 62.2 | 25 | D− |
| Bolton upon Dearne | 7,440 | 36.1 | 19.9 | C− |
| Denaby Main | 4,310 | 67.7 | 32 | D− |
| Greasbrough | 3,859 | 60.1 | 21.5 | D− |
Swinton records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Bolton upon Dearne, 2.5 miles away, records 36.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Swinton’s 41.2.
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 Swinton 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 Swinton
Is Swinton safe?
Police recorded 41.2 violent and sexual offences and 16.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Swinton’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 14% of UK towns. Among 341 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, Swinton is 267th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Swinton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 20%, shoplifting and theft fell 16% and anti-social behaviour rose 20%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Swinton?
Violence & sexual offences: 679 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (123) and public order (100), with 208 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Swinton compare with Rotherham?
Rotherham records 61.7 violent and sexual offences and 25.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Swinton’s 41.2 and 16.4, 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.