Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0Wharncliffe Side stands out for anti-social behaviour: 3.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
More crime per resident is recorded in 9% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. Taking everything together, Wharncliffe Side scores C−: more crime per resident than 80% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Its police logs show 33.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
Inside Wharncliffe Side’s C− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 213 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wharncliffe Side 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, Wharncliffe Side runs highest on anti-social behaviour (18 per 1,000 against 5.3) and violence & sexual offences (33.9 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 47 | 33.9 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 25 | 18 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 8 | 5.8 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 5.8 | 2.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 5 | 1.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 4.3 | 2.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 1.4 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.7 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.7 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 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 Wharncliffe Side 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 110 | Oxspring South Yorkshire | 1,196 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 2.5 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 154 | Silkstone Common South Yorkshire | 1,278 | 7.9 | 6.5 | 1.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 231 | Hoylandswaine South Yorkshire | 1,038 | 10.9 | 5.1 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 464 | Harthill South Yorkshire | 1,729 | 12.7 | 8.3 | 3.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1111 | Bedlinog Mid Glamorgan | 1,098 | 36.1 | 14.9 | 3.3 | C− |
| 1112 | Dove Holes Derbyshire | 1,156 | 38.6 | 12.4 | 4.3 | C− |
| 1113 | Hooley Surrey | 1,010 | 35 | 16.2 | 6.9 | C− |
| 1114 | Wharncliffe Side South Yorkshire | 1,387 | 33.7 | 17.5 | 4.8 | C− |
| 1115 | Darrington West Yorkshire | 1,194 | 25.4 | 26 | 3.9 | C− |
| 1116 | Blyth Nottinghamshire | 1,264 | 16.9 | 34.6 | 21.6 | C− |
| 1117 | Stanwell Moor Surrey | 1,431 | 28.2 | 23.3 | 6.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Wharncliffe Side, and others in South Yorkshire.
Crime in Wharncliffe Side 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 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +4% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -37% (towns its size +0%), anti-social behaviour -29% (towns its size -1%).
No one died in a collision on Wharncliffe Side’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4 collisions with injuries inside Wharncliffe Side in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Wharncliffe Side is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Wharncliffe Side’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; Wharncliffe Side had 2.
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 Wharncliffe Side’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wharncliffe Side
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wharncliffe Side | 1,387 | 33.7 | 17.5 | C− |
| Oughtibridge | 3,128 | 16.3 | 12.4 | B |
| Worrall | 1,320 | 15.2 | 6.1 | A− |
| Deepcar | 5,644 | 24.4 | 12.3 | C+ |
| Stocksbridge | 7,264 | 35 | 20.2 | C− |
| Ecclesfield and Grenoside | 8,187 | 21 | 18.5 | C+ |
| Chapeltown and High Green | 22,187 | 24.5 | 12.7 | C+ |
| Thurgoland | 1,239 | 19.1 | 7.5 | B+ |
Wharncliffe Side records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Stocksbridge records more. Oughtibridge, 1.1 miles away, records 16.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wharncliffe Side’s 33.7.
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 Wharncliffe Side 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 Wharncliffe Side
Is Wharncliffe Side safe?
Police recorded 33.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wharncliffe Side’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 20% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Wharncliffe Side has less crime per resident than 9%.
Is crime going up in Wharncliffe Side?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 37%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 29%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wharncliffe Side?
Violence & sexual offences: 47 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (8) and other theft (8), with 25 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wharncliffe Side 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 Wharncliffe Side’s 33.7 and 17.5, 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.