Crime in Pontardawe
Recorded crime in Pontardawe is 0.9 times the Neath Port Talbot average and 0.7 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has risen 14%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
Within 1.5 km of the centre of Pontardawe: about 7,804 residents in 7 neighbourhoods.
- Safety in the UK
- 6/10Average crime
- Living
- 5.0/10Fair
- 5-year change
- +14%more crimes
- vs the council
- 0.9×the Neath Port Talbot average
Neighbourhoods by Safety
Within 1.5 km of the centre of Pontardawe.
Crime over 5 years
Up 14% in 5 years Recorded crimes within 1.5 km of Pontardawe, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 0.9× the Neath Port Talbot average (0.7× the England and Wales average). 59 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 76% of the harm here
- Burglary: 8% of the harm here
- Other theft: 4% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 76% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.
Anti-social behaviour: 15 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
Crimes recorded in Neath Port Talbot (the whole council area)
April 2025 to March 2026, for the whole Neath Port Talbot council area, not only Pontardawe. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 138 | 0.96 | Down 27% |
| Cars broken into | 109 | 0.76 | Up 4% |
| Vandalism (homes, other buildings and vehicles) | 743 | 5.2 | Up 2% |
| Burglary of homes | 105 | 0.73 | Up 8% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 1 | - | - |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare.
How often crimes lead to a charge in SA8
In SA8, the postcode district at the centre of Pontardawe, 9% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).
- Charged or summonsed
- Caution or other action
- Suspect found, not prosecuted
- No suspect identified
- Still open
Show as a table
| Type | Crimes | Charged or summonsed | Caution or other action | Suspect found, not prosecuted | No suspect identified | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 379 | 7% | 2% | 71% | 9% | 10% |
| Public order | 88 | 3% | 5% | 66% | 20% | 6% |
| Drugs | 59 | 17% | 10% | 10% | 63% | 0% |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 53 | 8% | 4% | 32% | 51% | 6% |
| Shoplifting | 52 | 25% | 2% | 13% | 58% | 2% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 7% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
Neath Port Talbot, 2023 to 2025: 75 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 22 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 9 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
0.5 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 29% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Crime by type
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.
| Type | Per 1,000 a year |
|---|---|
| Robbery | 0.1 |
| Burglary | 1.9 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 28.1 |
| Drugs | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 0.4 |
| Other crime | 1.2 |
| Other theft | 4.4 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.3 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 2.6 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 6.4 |
| Public order | 7.5 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.3 |
| Shoplifting | 4.0 |
Postcode districts in Pontardawe
Nearby towns
Council: Neath Port Talbot
Questions about crime in Pontardawe
- Is Pontardawe a safe place to live?
- Pontardawe scores 6 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 0.9 times the Neath Port Talbot average.
- Is crime going up or down in Pontardawe?
- Up 14% over 5 years, from 436 recorded crimes a year to 498.
- What is the most common crime in Pontardawe?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 28 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How does crime in Pontardawe compare with Neath Port Talbot?
- Crime severity in Pontardawe is 0.9 times the Neath Port Talbot average.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in Pontardawe?
- In SA8, the postcode district at the centre of Pontardawe, 9% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 28% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many cars are stolen in Pontardawe?
- In Neath Port Talbot, the council area Pontardawe is in, the police recorded 138 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 1.0 per 1,000 residents, down 27% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in Pontardawe?
- 743 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in 2025/26, in Neath Port Talbot, the council area Pontardawe is in, 5.2 per 1,000 residents, 1.1 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in Pontardawe last year?
- 1 homicide (murder or manslaughter) was recorded in 2025/26, in Neath Port Talbot, the council area Pontardawe is in, against 2 the year before. Police data does not say where in the area they happened.