Crime and Safety in Maesteg
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Maesteg is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan, and is among the top 10 most dangerous overall out of Mid Glamorgan's 68 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Maesteg in 2026 is 86 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Mid Glamorgan's overall crime rate, coming in 24% higher than the Mid Glamorgan rate of 70 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Maesteg is the 104th most dangerous small town, and the 740th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In February 2025, Maesteg had the worst crime rate in Mid Glamorgan for shoplifting, with 36 crimes reported and a crime rate of 2.1 per 1,000 daytime population. February 2022 was also a bad month for Maesteg residents, when it was again Mid Glamorgan's most dangerous area for shoplifting, recording 39 crimes at a rate of 2.3 per 1,000 daytime population. Maesteg recorded 71 reports of anti-social behaviour during September 2020, making its crime rate of 4.1 the worst for anti-social behaviour in Mid Glamorgan that month.
The most common crimes in Maesteg are violence and sexual offences, with 664 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 38. This is 0.61% higher than 2025's figure of 660 offences and a difference of 0.22 from 2025's crime rate of 38. Maesteg's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 0 offences recorded in 2026.
Maesteg 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 5 Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Mid Glamorgan
40% higher, regional crime rate
Wales
20% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Maesteg is 40% higher than Wales and 20% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Maesteg Crime Rate Over Time
| Maesteg | |
| Wales | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Maesteg Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Maesteg 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 Maesteg Compares
You can compare Maesteg'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 Maesteg's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Maesteg up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Maesteg's 355 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 Maesteg? 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
Maesteg • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Maesteg has a crime risk score of 666. This is based on analysis of 355 nearby areas within Maesteg, 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 Maesteg's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Maesteg, crime risk scores are typically around 666, while in Mid Glamorgan they are average 604.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 728 (672 for Mid Glamorgan), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 790 (Mid Glamorgan 722).
Trends in Crime Risk
Maesteg
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.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 6% in Maesteg's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Maesteg's crime risk score is up by 23%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Maesteg's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 9%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Maesteg
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
Maesteg • 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 12 reports per 1,000 people in Maesteg, which is 1.72 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 212 crime reports logged by South Wales Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, South Wales Police recorded 169 reports of Public Order in Maesteg, resulting in a crime rate of 9.73 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.68.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 1.65 times the national average at 10 reports per 1,000. This is from 180 crime reports reported to South Wales Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Maesteg
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.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.60 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.67 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 10% over this timeframe.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.34 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.27 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 26% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Maesteg
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.81 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.71 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 0.86 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 99% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.88 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 2.17 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 33% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Maesteg • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Maesteg | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 280 | 16.12 | 1.14 | 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 | 48 | 2.80 | 0.89 | 890 | 1.85 | 0.59 | 6,704 | 1.94 | 0.62 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 180 | 10.36 | 1.65 | 3,054 | 6.30 | 1.00 | 21,045 | 6.12 | 0.97 |
| Drugs | 18 | 1.06 | 0.51 | 1,068 | 2.20 | 0.71 | 7,344 | 2.14 | 0.69 |
| Other Crime | 37 | 2.13 | 1.15 | 1,101 | 2.28 | 1.23 | 6,008 | 1.76 | 0.95 |
| Other Theft | 68 | 3.93 | 0.69 | 1,799 | 3.70 | 0.65 | 13,307 | 3.88 | 0.68 |
| Possession of Weapons | 7 | 0.41 | 1.46 | 318 | 0.65 | 0.76 | 2,296 | 0.68 | 0.80 |
| Public Order | 169 | 9.73 | 1.68 | 4,474 | 9.20 | 1.59 | 23,747 | 6.91 | 1.19 |
| Robbery | 10 | 0.59 | 1.04 | 190 | 0.39 | 0.33 | 1,461 | 0.43 | 0.36 |
| Shoplifting | 212 | 12.24 | 1.72 | 2,497 | 5.15 | 0.72 | 19,180 | 5.58 | 0.78 |
| Theft From the Person | 4 | 0.24 | 0.59 | 156 | 0.32 | 0.21 | 1,019 | 0.28 | 0.18 |
| Vehicle Crime | 79 | 4.55 | 1.06 | 1,448 | 2.98 | 0.69 | 8,617 | 2.52 | 0.59 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 664 | 38.26 | 1.26 | 16,776 | 34.54 | 1.14 | 99,099 | 28.83 | 0.95 |
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Total Crime by Year
Maesteg | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,496 | 86.30 | 1.27 | 33,844 | 69.72 | 0.97 | 211,426 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 1,437 | 83.03 | 1.18 | 33,650 | 69.56 | 0.94 | 257,229 | 75.28 | 1.02 |
| 2024 | 1,642 | 95.23 | 1.33 | 35,739 | 74.23 | 0.98 | 238,672 | 70.43 | 0.93 |
| 2023 | 1,431 | 83.04 | 1.10 | 32,332 | 67.70 | 0.86 | 255,615 | 75.95 | 0.96 |
| 2022 | 1,310 | 75.99 | 1.04 | 32,269 | 68.35 | 0.89 | 245,565 | 73.85 | 0.96 |
| 2021 | 1,264 | 73.44 | 1.11 | 30,235 | 64.31 | 0.94 | 217,266 | 65.68 | 0.96 |
| 2020 | 1,309 | 76.60 | 1.09 | 32,843 | 70.14 | 0.95 | 237,502 | 72.15 | 0.97 |
| 2019 | 1,373 | 80.53 | 1.10 | 33,809 | 72.53 | 0.95 | 244,905 | 74.66 | 0.98 |
| 2018 | 1,327 | 77.70 | 1.16 | 31,183 | 67.04 | 0.94 | 218,341 | 66.57 | 0.94 |
| 2017 | 1,258 | 73.32 | 1.20 | 30,274 | 65.34 | 1.02 | 199,059 | 60.80 | 0.95 |
| 2016 | 392 | 22.78 | 1.24 | 9,353 | 20.22 | 1.06 | 61,849 | 18.94 | 0.99 |
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Maesteg Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgend | 2,217 | 114.32 | 32% more dangerous |
| Town | 979 | 108.72 | 26% more dangerous |
| Cyfarthfa | 795 | 89.71 | 4.0% more dangerous |
| Aberaman | 412 | 74.88 | 13% safer |
| Maesteg | 1,496 | 86.30 | - |
| Cornelly | 532 | 71.53 | 17% safer |
| Aberdare | 2,026 | 81.05 | 6% safer |
| Llanharan | 763 | 70.65 | 18% safer |
| Pyle | 518 | 67.37 | 22% safer |
| Treorchy | 536 | 67.41 | 22% safer |
| Tonyrefail | 937 | 64.73 | 25% safer |
| Llantrisant | 1,025 | 64.76 | 25% safer |
| Porthcawl | 1,074 | 64.13 | 26% safer |
| Garw Valley | 412 | 51.87 | 40% safer |
| Brackla | 630 | 55.52 | 36% safer |
Comparing Maesteg to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 8% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 4.2% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 2.6% safer |
| Maesteg | 86.30 | - |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 13% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 21% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 22% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 23% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 24% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 25% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 45% 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 Maesteg's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Maesteg 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metcalfe Street Allotments | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Twmpath Allotments | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Garnwen Terrace Allotments | 2 | - | 3 | - | 11 | 3 |
| Glanllynfi | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| Tudor Park | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Maesteg
The 20 most recent crime reports in Maesteg.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Teras Griffiths | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Coronation Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Teras Griffiths | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Ael-Y-Bryn | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Teras Griffiths | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Monica Street | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Hartshorn Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Lloyd Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Stryd Victoria | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Glanafon Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Alma Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Talgarth Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Sychbant Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Heol Elfed | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Chestnut Grove | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area |
Methodology & Data Sources
Maesteg 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 Maesteg during June 2026 will typically become available in August 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.
Maesteg Data Points
For Maesteg, 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 W04000640.
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 Maesteg's daytime - or "workday" - population of 14,344 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 Maesteg