Photo: Richard Vince · CC BY-SA 2.0Wombwell has more burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident than 92% of UK towns
Violent crime was up 5% in a year. Measured on crimes police recorded inside Wombwell’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #37 of 63 in South Yorkshire. Vehicle crime stands out: 6 per 1,000 residents here, against 2.8 in a typical town its size, with 101 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and property crime split as 40.6 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Wombwell
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 5% more violent crime per resident in Wombwell 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 12% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 317 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people, Wombwell has the 259th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Dunscroft and Hatfield, Houghton-le-Spring and Mountain Ash, higher than Northallerton, Waltham Abbey and Whitby. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
44% of Wombwell’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.
Inside Wombwell’s D for safety
A firm grade. Built on 3,059 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wombwell 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, Wombwell runs highest on vehicle crime (6 per 1,000 against 2.8), other crime (3.2 per 1,000 against 1.8) and burglary (3.6 per 1,000 against 2.4). Other theft and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 679 | 40.5 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 276 | 16.5 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 139 | 8.3 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 102 | 6.1 | 5.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 101 | 6 | 2.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 62 | 3.7 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 61 | 3.6 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 54 | 3.2 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 38 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 19 | 1.1 | 6.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 17 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 13 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | 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.
44% of Wombwell residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 44% 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.
Wombwell’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.
Of 317 towns its size, Wombwell is 259th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Chapeltown and High Green South Yorkshire | 22,187 | 24.5 | 12.7 | 12.8 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 114 | Darton South Yorkshire | 15,016 | 25.6 | 12.2 | 5.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 163 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe South Yorkshire | 13,090 | 24.2 | 19.1 | 7.6 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 185 | Swallownest and Aston South Yorkshire | 14,912 | 31.1 | 15.3 | 7.8 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 256 | Northallerton North Yorkshire | 13,314 | 42.3 | 17.1 | 22.4 | D |
| 257 | Waltham Abbey Essex | 18,645 | 38.6 | 21.2 | 14.3 | D |
| 258 | Whitby North Yorkshire | 12,603 | 46.6 | 14 | 15.2 | D |
| 259 | Wombwell South Yorkshire | 16,758 | 40.6 | 20.4 | 6 | D |
| 260 | Normanton West Yorkshire | 21,976 | 44.6 | 16.5 | 12.1 | D |
| 261 | Northwich Cheshire | 18,646 | 49.4 | 11.7 | 19.9 | D |
| 262 | Tiverton Devon | 19,710 | 45.4 | 16 | 13.2 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 317 | 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 Wombwell, and others in South Yorkshire.
Crime in Wombwell 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 18 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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 74% of Wombwell’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 14% 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 11% of violent and 3% 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. 1,033 crimes.
How crime in Wombwell 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 +5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -12% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -18% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -6% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Wombwell, Stairfoot and Darfield; highest in Darfield
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wombwell | 12,430 | 37.8 | 17 | |
| Stairfoot | 2,085 | 41.6 | 17.6 | |
| Darfield | 2,243 | 54.8 | 41.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 276 | 49% violent |
| Petrol stations | 80 | 40% anti-social behaviour |
| Supermarkets | 26 | 27% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Wombwell. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Wombwell’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Wombwell’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 71 collisions with injuries inside Wombwell in five years. 27 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 2 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 Wombwell’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wombwell’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Wombwell had 32.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above 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 Wombwell’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wombwell
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wombwell | 16,758 | 40.6 | 20.4 | D |
| Hemingfield | 1,815 | 13.4 | 11.9 | B+ |
| Brampton | 4,620 | 37.5 | 25.5 | D |
| Darfield | 7,209 | 38 | 24.4 | D |
| Jump | 1,424 | 37.5 | 17.6 | C− |
| Hoyland | 15,527 | 35.9 | 21.6 | D |
| Wath upon Dearne | 16,962 | 45.6 | 19.6 | D |
| Worsbrough | 8,840 | 54.1 | 28.8 | D− |
Wombwell records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Hemingfield, 0.9 miles away, records 13.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wombwell’s 40.6.
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 Wombwell 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 Wombwell
Is Wombwell safe?
Police recorded 40.6 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wombwell’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 12% of UK towns. Among 317 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people, Wombwell is 259th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Wombwell?
By council ward, Wombwell, Stairfoot and Darfield record the least violent and household crime per resident: 37.8, 41.6 and 54.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 54.8 in Darfield.
Is crime going up in Wombwell?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 5%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 12%, shoplifting and theft fell 18% and anti-social behaviour fell 6%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wombwell?
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 (139) and public order (102), with 276 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wombwell 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 Wombwell’s 40.6 and 20.4, 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.