Crime and Safety in Rhyl
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Rhyl is the most dangerous medium-sized town in the preserved county of Clwyd, and is the most dangerous overall out of Clwyd's 142 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Rhyl in 2026 is 154 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Clwyd's overall crime rate, coming in 118% higher than the Clwyd rate of 71 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Rhyl is the most dangerous medium-sized town, and the 98th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In March 2025, Rhyl had the worst crime rate in Clwyd for theft from the person, with 7 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.24 per 1,000 daytime population. July 2025 was also a bad month for Rhyl residents, when it was again Clwyd's most dangerous area for theft from the person, recording 4 crimes at a rate of 0.13 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Rhyl are violence and sexual offences, with 2,283 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 77. This is 3.5% higher than 2025's figure of 2,205 offences and a difference of 2.59 from 2025's crime rate of 74. Rhyl's least common crime is robbery, with 15 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 32% from 2025's figure of 22 crimes.
Rhyl 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Medium-Sized Towns, Clwyd
150% higher, regional crime rate
Wales
114% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Rhyl is 150% higher than Wales and 114% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Rhyl Crime Rate Over Time
| Rhyl | |
| Wales | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Rhyl Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Rhyl represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
See How Rhyl Compares
You can compare Rhyl's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.
Introduction to Rhyl's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Rhyl up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Rhyl's 780 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Rhyl? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.
Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.
That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.
Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.
Crime Risk Scores
Rhyl • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Rhyl has a crime risk score of 672. This is based on analysis of 780 nearby areas within Rhyl, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Rhyl's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Rhyl, crime risk scores are typically around 672, while in Clwyd they are average 594.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 742 (609 for Clwyd), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 805 (Clwyd 623).
Trends in Crime Risk
Rhyl
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
No trend could be found in Rhyl's crime risk scores over the last 10 years, and the trend may well be static.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Rhyl's crime risk score is down by 8%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Over the last year, Rhyl's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 1.3%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Rhyl
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Rhyl • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Shoplifting offences have a crime rate of 18 reports per 1,000 people in Rhyl, which is 2.56 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 545 crime reports logged by North Wales Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, North Wales Police recorded 2,283 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Rhyl, resulting in a crime rate of 77 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.52.
The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 2.50 times the national average at 1.95 reports per 1,000. This is from 58 crime reports reported to North Wales Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Rhyl
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.49 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 1.00 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 51% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.93 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 2.33 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 17% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Rhyl
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.69 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 2.58 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 4.3% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.30 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.33 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 9% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Rhyl • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Rhyl | Clwyd | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 979 | 32.84 | 2.32 | 9,603 | 17.43 | 1.23 | 37,683 | 10.96 | 0.78 |
| Bicycle Theft | 59 | 1.99 | 2.73 | 246 | 0.47 | 0.64 | 1,599 | 0.46 | 0.63 |
| Burglary | 135 | 4.53 | 1.45 | 1,275 | 2.32 | 0.74 | 6,704 | 1.94 | 0.62 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 459 | 15.41 | 2.45 | 4,017 | 7.30 | 1.16 | 21,045 | 6.12 | 0.97 |
| Drugs | 197 | 6.61 | 2.14 | 1,169 | 2.11 | 0.68 | 7,344 | 2.14 | 0.69 |
| Other Crime | 91 | 3.06 | 1.65 | 907 | 1.65 | 0.89 | 6,008 | 1.76 | 0.95 |
| Other Theft | 261 | 8.76 | 1.54 | 2,656 | 4.82 | 0.85 | 13,307 | 3.88 | 0.68 |
| Possession of Weapons | 58 | 1.95 | 2.50 | 375 | 0.68 | 0.80 | 2,296 | 0.68 | 0.80 |
| Public Order | 391 | 13.13 | 2.26 | 3,281 | 5.96 | 1.03 | 23,747 | 6.91 | 1.19 |
| Robbery | 15 | 0.49 | 0.50 | 157 | 0.30 | 0.25 | 1,461 | 0.43 | 0.36 |
| Shoplifting | 545 | 18.28 | 2.56 | 4,123 | 7.47 | 1.05 | 19,180 | 5.58 | 0.78 |
| Theft From the Person | 21 | 0.69 | 0.48 | 80 | 0.15 | 0.10 | 1,019 | 0.28 | 0.18 |
| Vehicle Crime | 73 | 2.46 | 0.57 | 931 | 1.70 | 0.40 | 8,617 | 2.52 | 0.59 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 2,283 | 76.60 | 2.52 | 19,748 | 35.83 | 1.18 | 99,099 | 28.83 | 0.95 |
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Total Crime by Year
Rhyl | Clwyd | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 4,588 | 153.96 | 2.15 | 38,965 | 70.76 | 0.98 | 211,426 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 4,582 | 153.94 | 2.09 | 40,763 | 74.45 | 1.01 | 257,229 | 75.28 | 1.02 |
| 2024 | 4,431 | 150.51 | 2.01 | 41,127 | 75.38 | 1.00 | 238,672 | 70.43 | 0.93 |
| 2023 | 5,253 | 180.47 | 2.29 | 46,483 | 85.63 | 1.08 | 255,615 | 75.95 | 0.96 |
| 2022 | 5,356 | 184.14 | 2.41 | 46,578 | 86.21 | 1.12 | 245,565 | 73.85 | 0.96 |
| 2021 | 4,150 | 143.03 | 2.12 | 40,375 | 74.82 | 1.09 | 217,266 | 65.68 | 0.96 |
| 2020 | 4,764 | 165.82 | 2.24 | 42,825 | 79.76 | 1.08 | 237,502 | 72.15 | 0.97 |
| 2019 | 4,864 | 171.25 | 2.25 | 45,213 | 84.47 | 1.11 | 244,905 | 74.66 | 0.98 |
| 2018 | 3,884 | 138.08 | 1.96 | 38,904 | 72.78 | 1.02 | 218,341 | 66.57 | 0.94 |
| 2017 | 3,253 | 116.37 | 1.83 | 30,730 | 57.52 | 0.90 | 199,059 | 60.80 | 0.95 |
| 2016 | 879 | 31.53 | 1.68 | 9,689 | 18.13 | 0.95 | 61,849 | 18.94 | 0.99 |
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Comparing Rhyl to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 48% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 46% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 45% safer |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 36% safer |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 32% safer |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 32% safer |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 31% safer |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 30% safer |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 30% safer |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 19% safer |
| Rhyl | 153.96 | - |
CrimeRate Pro
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Offences In and Around Rhyl's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Rhyl that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerddi Heulwen | 8 | 7 | 4 | - | 32 | 18 |
| Rhyl and District Rugby Club | 2 | - | 2 | - | 8 | 5 |
| Canolfan Hamdden y Rhyl | 6 | - | 2 | - | 6 | 13 |
| Coronation Gardens | 4 | - | 2 | - | 11 | 5 |
| Bruton Park Play Area | 4 | - | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10 |
| Botanical Gardens | 11 | - | - | - | 14 | 14 |
| SC2 | 19 | - | 6 | - | 30 | 20 |
Recent Crimes in Rhyl
The 20 most recent crime reports in Rhyl.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Knowsley Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Bro Deg | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Theatre/Concert Hall | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Boughton Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Elwy Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Washington Court | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Llys Delyn | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Llys Delyn | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Llys Delyn | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area |
Methodology & Data Sources
Rhyl Crime Report
Data Sources & Processing
Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.
Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Rhyl during August 2026 will typically become available in October 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.
Rhyl Data Points
For Rhyl, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2023 release of their Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas dataset, using the PARNCP23CD column value W04000173.
Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Rhyl's daytime - or "workday" - population of 24,930 from the ONS 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.
All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.
Calculating Crime Rates
CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.
Crime Risk Score Calculations
CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.
Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.
Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.
The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Rhyl