Crime and Safety in Rotherham
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Rotherham is the second most dangerous major town in South Yorkshire, and is the 30th most dangerous overall out of South Yorkshire's 109 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Rotherham in 2026 is 101 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to South Yorkshire's overall crime rate, coming in 16% higher than the South Yorkshire rate of 87 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Rotherham is among the top 20 most dangerous major towns, and the 454th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Rotherham was the worst major town in South Yorkshire for possession of weapons, with 22 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.14 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Rotherham residents, when it was South Yorkshire's most dangerous major town for public order, recording 110 crimes at a rate of 0.72 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Rotherham are violence and sexual offences, with 6,780 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 44. This is 2.2% higher than 2025's figure of 6,633 offences and a difference of 0.96 from 2025's crime rate of 43. Rotherham's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 55 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 8% from 2025's figure of 60 crimes.
Rotherham 2026 Crime Scorecard
Second Most Dangerous
Major Towns, South Yorkshire
19% higher, regional crime rate
Yorkshire and The Humber
41% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Rotherham is 19% higher than Yorkshire and The Humber and 41% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Rotherham Crime Rate Over Time
| Rotherham | |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Rotherham Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Rotherham 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 Rotherham Compares
You can compare Rotherham'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 Rotherham's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Rotherham up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Rotherham's 3,409 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 Rotherham? 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
Rotherham • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Rotherham has a crime risk score of 706. This is based on analysis of 3,409 nearby areas within Rotherham, 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 Rotherham's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Rotherham, crime risk scores are typically around 706, while in South Yorkshire they are average 590.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 756 (621 for South Yorkshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 810 (South Yorkshire 651).
Trends in Crime Risk
Rotherham
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 an increase of 26% in Rotherham'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 Rotherham's crime risk score is up by 3.6%. 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, Rotherham's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 3.5%, 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
Rotherham
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
Rotherham • 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.
Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 1.51 reports per 1,000 people in Rotherham, which is 1.78 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 231 crime reports logged by South Yorkshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, South Yorkshire Police recorded 1,838 reports of Shoplifting in Rotherham, resulting in a crime rate of 12 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.68.
The crime rate for Public Order is 1.63 times the national average at 9.47 reports per 1,000. This is from 1,451 crime reports reported to South Yorkshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Rotherham
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 1.69 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.82 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 106% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.68 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.55 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 8% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.40 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.89 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 170% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Rotherham
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
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 2.29 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 25% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.87 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.00 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 13% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Rotherham • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Rotherham | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire and The Humber | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 2,577 | 16.83 | 1.19 | 26,700 | 16.86 | 1.19 | 77,875 | 12.35 | 0.87 |
| Bicycle Theft | 55 | 0.37 | 0.51 | 795 | 0.50 | 0.68 | 4,306 | 0.68 | 0.93 |
| Burglary | 770 | 5.03 | 1.61 | 7,325 | 4.62 | 1.48 | 27,843 | 4.41 | 1.41 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 1,276 | 8.30 | 1.32 | 13,544 | 8.55 | 1.36 | 47,570 | 7.55 | 1.20 |
| Drugs | 427 | 2.77 | 0.90 | 4,941 | 3.12 | 1.01 | 19,757 | 3.14 | 1.02 |
| Other Crime | 559 | 3.66 | 1.98 | 5,189 | 3.30 | 1.78 | 18,290 | 2.91 | 1.57 |
| Other Theft | 981 | 6.40 | 1.12 | 8,713 | 5.49 | 0.96 | 36,443 | 5.78 | 1.02 |
| Possession of Weapons | 231 | 1.51 | 1.78 | 1,857 | 1.17 | 1.38 | 5,827 | 0.93 | 1.09 |
| Public Order | 1,451 | 9.47 | 1.63 | 11,818 | 7.46 | 1.29 | 47,514 | 7.55 | 1.30 |
| Robbery | 255 | 1.67 | 1.42 | 2,064 | 1.30 | 1.10 | 7,156 | 1.13 | 0.96 |
| Shoplifting | 1,838 | 12.00 | 1.68 | 13,959 | 8.83 | 1.24 | 48,695 | 7.71 | 1.08 |
| Theft From the Person | 70 | 0.47 | 0.30 | 874 | 0.53 | 0.34 | 3,568 | 0.57 | 0.37 |
| Vehicle Crime | 820 | 5.35 | 1.24 | 9,918 | 6.27 | 1.46 | 30,637 | 4.87 | 1.13 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 6,780 | 44.25 | 1.46 | 56,798 | 35.86 | 1.18 | 239,898 | 38.04 | 1.25 |
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Total Crime by Year
Rotherham | South Yorkshire | Yorkshire and The Humber | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 15,513 | 101.25 | 1.41 | 137,795 | 87.00 | 1.21 | 537,504 | 85.27 | 1.18 |
| 2025 | 15,106 | 99.31 | 1.34 | 142,062 | 90.64 | 1.22 | 553,826 | 88.44 | 1.19 |
| 2024 | 14,815 | 98.33 | 1.30 | 147,112 | 95.02 | 1.26 | 576,330 | 93.00 | 1.23 |
| 2023 | 15,637 | 104.96 | 1.33 | 154,648 | 101.06 | 1.28 | 611,034 | 99.55 | 1.26 |
| 2022 | 14,999 | 102.02 | 1.33 | 145,166 | 96.23 | 1.25 | 574,808 | 94.84 | 1.23 |
| 2021 | 13,362 | 91.84 | 1.34 | 128,797 | 85.77 | 1.25 | 501,180 | 83.02 | 1.21 |
| 2020 | 14,727 | 101.02 | 1.36 | 138,295 | 92.12 | 1.24 | 549,148 | 91.15 | 1.23 |
| 2019 | 14,948 | 102.53 | 1.34 | 139,154 | 92.74 | 1.22 | 568,297 | 94.66 | 1.24 |
| 2018 | 14,487 | 99.88 | 1.40 | 135,249 | 90.22 | 1.27 | 514,090 | 85.73 | 1.21 |
| 2017 | 12,349 | 85.65 | 1.34 | 115,638 | 77.26 | 1.21 | 456,998 | 76.46 | 1.20 |
| 2016 | 3,465 | 24.10 | 1.26 | 30,755 | 20.56 | 1.08 | 133,274 | 22.31 | 1.17 |
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Rotherham Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
Comparing Rotherham to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 21% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 18% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 17% safer |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 3.3% safer |
| Rotherham | 101.25 | - |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 3.3% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 3.8% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 5% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 6% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 6% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 23% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
To download charts and tables, you must subscribed to CrimeRate Pro
You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Rotherham's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Rotherham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburn Meadows Nature Reserve | - | - | 2 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Silverwood Miners' Welfare Sports Ground | 2 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| Roughwood Road Recreation Ground | 8 | 1 | 8 | - | 37 | 17 |
| Sandhill Park | 9 | - | 1 | - | 6 | 0 |
| Barker's Park | 18 | 2 | 2 | - | 17 | 18 |
| Kimberworth Park Allotments | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 |
| Greasbrough Cemetery | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| High Street Allotments | 7 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Greasbrough Allotments | 2 | - | 3 | - | 8 | 4 |
| Vicarage Fields Allotments | 4 | - | - | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Highfield Park | 5 | - | 3 | - | 9 | 4 |
| Wood Street Allotments | 4 | - | - | - | 18 | 10 |
| Wharf Road Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | 12 | 4 |
| Rectory Fields Allotments | 4 | 3 | 6 | - | 14 | 17 |
| South Street Allotments East | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| Bradgate Park | 14 | 1 | 6 | - | 28 | 34 |
| Clough Bank Allotments | - | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
| Masbrough Cemetery | 10 | - | 3 | - | 33 | 25 |
| Ferham Park | 24 | 8 | 8 | - | 62 | 47 |
| Rotherham Leisure Complex | 5 | - | 7 | - | 17 | 26 |
| Clifton Park | 41 | 4 | 28 | 1 | 75 | 61 |
| Clifton Lane Sports Ground | 18 | 1 | 2 | - | 21 | 14 |
| Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park | 8 | 1 | 6 | - | 4 | 9 |
| Clifton Allotments | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 17 |
| Herringthorpe Playing Fields | 37 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 72 | 40 |
| Greasbrough Park | 4 | 2 | 5 | - | 10 | 13 |
| Victoria Park | 28 | - | 3 | 2 | 27 | 200 |
| Miners' Welfare Sports Ground | 11 | 2 | 3 | - | 22 | 31 |
| Hartley Lane Allotments | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 7 |
| Psalters Lane Allotments | 2 | - | - | - | 7 | 6 |
| Broom Valley Old Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 5 |
| Moorgate Cemetery | 4 | - | - | - | 18 | 13 |
| Herringthorpe Valley Allotments | 8 | 2 | 5 | - | 13 | 16 |
| Broom Valley New Allotments | 21 | - | 12 | - | 23 | 11 |
| Barnsley Road and Wet Moor Lane Allotments | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 11 |
| Moor Road Allotments | 4 | - | 2 | 2 | 12 | 10 |
| Wath Cemetery | 7 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 4 |
| Newhill Park | 9 | 2 | 5 | - | 12 | 9 |
| Wath upon Dearne Leisure Centre | 2 | - | 4 | - | 13 | 6 |
| Wath Park | 13 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 31 | 15 |
| DVC Sports Centre | 1 | - | 1 | - | 15 | 2 |
| Brampton | 5 | - | 1 | - | 9 | 6 |
| Manor Farm Play Area | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 25 |
| Upper Haugh Cricket Ground | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
Recent Crimes in Rotherham
The 20 most recent crime reports in Rotherham.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Sports/Recreation Area | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near A633 | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Rosebery Street | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Treefield Close | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Badsley Moor Lane | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near A6109 | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Vicarage Lane | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Vicarage Lane | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Wagon Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Church Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Boardman Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Byron Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Boardman Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Badsley Moor Lane | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Byron Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Byron Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Toll Bar Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Spalton Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Orchard Flatts Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Boardman Avenue |
Methodology & Data Sources
Rotherham 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 Rotherham 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.
Rotherham Data Points
For Rotherham, 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 E43000172.
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 Rotherham's daytime - or "workday" - population of 140,465 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 Rotherham