Crime and Safety in Aberdare
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Aberdare is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of Mid Glamorgan's 68 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Aberdare in 2026 is 81 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Mid Glamorgan's overall crime rate, coming in 16% higher than the Mid Glamorgan rate of 70 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Aberdare is the 165th most dangerous small town, and the 1,088th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Aberdare was the worst small town in Mid Glamorgan for violence and sexual offences, with 116 crimes reported and a crime rate of 4.6 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2025 was also a bad month for Aberdare residents, when it was Mid Glamorgan's most dangerous small town for drugs, recording 9 crimes at a rate of 0.36 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Aberdare are violence and sexual offences, with 1,121 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 45. This is 1.5% higher than 2025's figure of 1,104 offences and a difference of 0.69 from 2025's crime rate of 44. Aberdare's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 0 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 0% from 2025's figure of 2 crimes.
Aberdare 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 5 Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Mid Glamorgan
32% higher, regional crime rate
Wales
13% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Aberdare is 32% higher than Wales and 13% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Aberdare Crime Rate Over Time
| Aberdare | |
| Wales | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Aberdare Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Aberdare 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 Aberdare Compares
You can compare Aberdare'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 Aberdare's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Aberdare up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Aberdare's 546 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 Aberdare? 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
Aberdare • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Aberdare has a crime risk score of 664. This is based on analysis of 546 nearby areas within Aberdare, 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 Aberdare's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Aberdare, crime risk scores are typically around 664, while in Mid Glamorgan they are average 604.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 760 (672 for Mid Glamorgan), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 838 (Mid Glamorgan 722).
Trends in Crime Risk
Aberdare
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 Aberdare'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 Aberdare's crime risk score is up by 1.9%. 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.
The risk score trend over the last year has not shown any statistically meaningful movement up or down.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Aberdare
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
Aberdare • 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.
Public Order offences have a crime rate of 12 reports per 1,000 people in Aberdare, which is 2.07 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 300 crime reports logged by South Wales Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, South Wales Police recorded 1,121 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Aberdare, resulting in a crime rate of 45 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.48.
The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 1.08 times the national average at 0.92 reports per 1,000. This is from 23 crime reports reported to South Wales Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Aberdare
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 0.69 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 21% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.83 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.40 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 108% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.57 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.14 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 50% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Aberdare
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.11 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.97 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 14% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.67 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.80 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 63% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.83 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 2.50 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 27% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Aberdare • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Aberdare | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 330 | 13.20 | 0.93 | 5,070 | 10.43 | 0.74 | 37,683 | 10.96 | 0.78 |
| Bicycle Theft | - | - | - | 73 | 0.16 | 0.22 | 1,599 | 0.46 | 0.63 |
| Burglary | 51 | 2.04 | 0.65 | 890 | 1.85 | 0.59 | 6,704 | 1.94 | 0.62 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 167 | 6.68 | 1.06 | 3,054 | 6.30 | 1.00 | 21,045 | 6.12 | 0.97 |
| Drugs | 58 | 2.32 | 0.75 | 1,068 | 2.20 | 0.71 | 7,344 | 2.14 | 0.69 |
| Other Crime | 46 | 1.84 | 1.08 | 1,101 | 2.28 | 1.23 | 6,008 | 1.76 | 0.95 |
| Other Theft | 88 | 3.52 | 0.62 | 1,799 | 3.70 | 0.65 | 13,307 | 3.88 | 0.68 |
| Possession of Weapons | 23 | 0.92 | 1.08 | 318 | 0.65 | 0.76 | 2,296 | 0.68 | 0.80 |
| Public Order | 300 | 12.00 | 2.07 | 4,474 | 9.20 | 1.59 | 23,747 | 6.91 | 1.19 |
| Robbery | 8 | 0.32 | 0.68 | 190 | 0.39 | 0.33 | 1,461 | 0.43 | 0.36 |
| Shoplifting | 72 | 2.88 | 0.40 | 2,497 | 5.15 | 0.72 | 19,180 | 5.58 | 0.78 |
| Theft From the Person | 11 | 0.44 | 0.37 | 156 | 0.32 | 0.21 | 1,019 | 0.28 | 0.18 |
| Vehicle Crime | 81 | 3.24 | 0.75 | 1,448 | 2.98 | 0.69 | 8,617 | 2.52 | 0.59 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 1,121 | 44.85 | 1.48 | 16,776 | 34.54 | 1.14 | 99,099 | 28.83 | 0.95 |
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Total Crime by Year
Aberdare | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 2,026 | 81.05 | 1.16 | 33,844 | 69.72 | 0.97 | 211,426 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 2,104 | 84.65 | 1.18 | 33,650 | 69.56 | 0.94 | 257,229 | 75.28 | 1.02 |
| 2024 | 2,356 | 95.89 | 1.32 | 35,739 | 74.23 | 0.98 | 238,672 | 70.43 | 0.93 |
| 2023 | 2,166 | 89.15 | 1.17 | 32,332 | 67.70 | 0.86 | 255,615 | 75.95 | 0.96 |
| 2022 | 2,198 | 90.79 | 1.22 | 32,269 | 68.35 | 0.89 | 245,565 | 73.85 | 0.96 |
| 2021 | 1,665 | 69.33 | 1.05 | 30,235 | 64.31 | 0.94 | 217,266 | 65.68 | 0.96 |
| 2020 | 1,958 | 82.06 | 1.15 | 32,843 | 70.14 | 0.95 | 237,502 | 72.15 | 0.97 |
| 2019 | 1,931 | 81.09 | 1.11 | 33,809 | 72.53 | 0.95 | 244,905 | 74.66 | 0.98 |
| 2018 | 1,908 | 80.65 | 1.17 | 31,183 | 67.04 | 0.94 | 218,341 | 66.57 | 0.94 |
| 2017 | 1,836 | 77.80 | 1.27 | 30,274 | 65.34 | 1.02 | 199,059 | 60.80 | 0.95 |
| 2016 | 523 | 22.19 | 1.22 | 9,353 | 20.22 | 1.06 | 61,849 | 18.94 | 0.99 |
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Aberdare Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgend | 2,217 | 114.32 | 41% more dangerous |
| Town | 979 | 108.72 | 34% more dangerous |
| Cyfarthfa | 795 | 89.71 | 11% more dangerous |
| Aberaman | 412 | 74.88 | 8% safer |
| Maesteg | 1,496 | 86.30 | 6% more dangerous |
| Cornelly | 532 | 71.53 | 12% safer |
| Aberdare | 2,026 | 81.05 | - |
| Llanharan | 763 | 70.65 | 13% safer |
| Pyle | 518 | 67.37 | 17% safer |
| Treorchy | 536 | 67.41 | 17% safer |
| Ogmore Valley | 432 | 53.58 | 34% safer |
| Tonyrefail | 937 | 64.73 | 20% safer |
| Llantrisant | 1,025 | 64.76 | 20% safer |
| Porthcawl | 1,074 | 64.13 | 21% safer |
| Garw Valley | 412 | 51.87 | 36% safer |
| Brackla | 630 | 55.52 | 31% safer |
| Coity Higher | 645 | 51.66 | 36% safer |
Comparing Aberdare to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 1.9% safer |
| Aberdare | 81.05 | - |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 2.0% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 3.8% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 21% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 29% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 30% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 31% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 32% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 33% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 54% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
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You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Aberdare's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Aberdare 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caolfan Hamdden Sobell Leisure Centre | 21 | 2 | 9 | - | 40 | 6 |
| King George's Field | - | - | 1 | - | 8 | 3 |
| Cwmaman Park | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 13 | 5 |
| Mostyn Street Allotment | 2 | - | 1 | - | 8 | 6 |
| The Grove Allotment | - | - | 1 | - | 11 | 0 |
| Sunnybank Allotment | 1 | - | - | - | 18 | 7 |
| Ynys Lwyd Road Allotment | 4 | - | 3 | - | 4 | 7 |
| Brook Street Allotment | 2 | - | - | - | 3 | 3 |
| Cobden Street Allotment | 1 | - | - | - | 7 | 3 |
| Dare Valley Country Park | 8 | 2 | 8 | - | 31 | 8 |
| Bwllfa Road Allotment | 2 | - | 1 | - | 8 | 2 |
| Park Lane Allotment | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 |
| Aberdare Park | 5 | 1 | 4 | - | 43 | 13 |
| Lambert Terrace Allotment | 3 | - | 2 | - | 16 | 0 |
Recent Crimes in Aberdare
The 20 most recent crime reports in Aberdare.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Aberdare Bus Station | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Aberdare Bus Station | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Jubilee Road | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Park View Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Cross Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Byron Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ann Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Aberdare Bus Station | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Jubilee Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near John Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Henry Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Aberdare Bus Station | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Glanrhyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Cross Street |
Methodology & Data Sources
Aberdare 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 Aberdare during July 2026 will typically become available in September 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.
Aberdare Data Points
For Aberdare, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2022 release of their Built Up Areas dataset, using the BUA22CD column value W45000431.
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 Aberdare's daytime - or "workday" - population of 21,425 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 Aberdare