Photo: Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Castleford records more crime than 98% of UK towns
The yearly rates were 61.7 violent and sexual offences and 27.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Violence recorded locally dropped 11% in a year. Even so, the grade is D−, built on crimes police recorded inside Castleford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #81 of 91 in West Yorkshire. With 469 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, vehicle crime reaches 10.3 per 1,000 residents locally, well above the typical 2.8.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Castleford
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Castleford 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
56% of Castleford’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 8% 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.
Castleford: D− for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 12,065 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Castleford against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
56% of Castleford residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
8% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 56% 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.
Castleford’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 police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Castleford runs highest on vehicle crime (10.3 per 1,000 against 2.8), robbery (1.8 per 1,000 against 0.5) and other crime (5.6 per 1,000 against 1.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 2,481 | 54.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 759 | 16.7 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 679 | 15 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 559 | 12.3 | 4.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 511 | 11.3 | 6.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 469 | 10.3 | 2.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 461 | 10.2 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 264 | 5.8 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 254 | 5.6 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 165 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 81 | 1.8 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 45 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 26 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 25 | 0.6 | 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.
How Castleford compares with UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 87 | Pudsey West Yorkshire | 34,853 | 34.8 | 20.3 | 21.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Brighouse West Yorkshire | 33,159 | 46.3 | 16.2 | 14.9 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 117 | Morley West Yorkshire | 32,562 | 46.9 | 20.3 | 20.8 | D |
| 118 | Batley West Yorkshire | 44,494 | 48.3 | 19.3 | 15.1 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 146 | Wrexham Clwyd | 44,781 | 62.3 | 23.3 | 33.7 | D− |
| 147 | Dover Kent | 36,349 | 65.9 | 21.9 | 24.8 | D− |
| 148 | Bilston West Midlands | 34,631 | 58.9 | 29.4 | 26.7 | D− |
| 149 | Castleford West Yorkshire | 45,363 | 61.7 | 27.1 | 30.3 | D− |
| 150 | Keighley West Yorkshire | 48,754 | 70.7 | 24.3 | 24.3 | D− |
| 151 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Castleford, and others in West Yorkshire.
Crime in Castleford 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 27 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 28 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Castleford 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 -11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +4% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +23% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 65% of Castleford’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 16% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% 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. 4,100 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Altofts and Whitwood, Airedale and Ferry Fryston and Castleford Central and Glasshoughton
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altofts and Whitwood | 12,731 | 50.9 | 19.6 | |
| Airedale and Ferry Fryston | 16,088 | 61.2 | 22.9 | |
| Castleford Central and Glasshoughton | 16,544 | 66.5 | 34.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 561 | 29% violent |
| Shopping areas | 463 | 75% shoplifting & theft |
| Bus and coach stations | 287 | 35% violent |
| Petrol stations | 270 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 192 | 31% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 131 | 40% violent |
| College and university buildings | 38 | 58% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 29 | 28% violent |
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 Castleford. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Castleford’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Five people died in collisions on Castleford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 278 collisions with injuries inside Castleford in five years, in which five people died (1 was a pedestrian). 82 people were killed or seriously injured: 27 on foot and 14 on a bicycle.
That is more than 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 Castleford’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Castleford’s own rate (2.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Castleford had 36.3 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). 33% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Castleford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Castleford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castleford | 45,363 | 61.7 | 27.1 | D− |
| Allerton Bywater | 6,958 | 34.2 | 18 | C− |
| Pontefract | 32,982 | 57.2 | 17.8 | D |
| Methley | 1,196 | 20.4 | 8.9 | B |
| Mickletown | 3,362 | 23 | 10.6 | B− |
| Featherstone | 11,657 | 62.1 | 17.8 | D− |
| Holmfield | 4,150 | 60.5 | 26.6 | D− |
| Byram | 1,436 | 33.7 | 12.3 | C |
Castleford records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Allerton Bywater, 2.5 miles away, records 34.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Castleford’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 Castleford 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 Castleford
Is Castleford safe?
Police recorded 61.7 violent and sexual offences and 27.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Castleford’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Castleford has less crime per resident than 3%.
What are the safest areas of Castleford?
By council ward, Altofts and Whitwood, Airedale and Ferry Fryston and Castleford Central and Glasshoughton record the least violent and household crime per resident: 50.9, 61.2 and 66.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 66.5 in Castleford Central and Glasshoughton.
Is crime going up in Castleford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 23%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Castleford?
Violence & sexual offences: 2,481 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (679) and other theft (559), with 759 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.