Safety index · Cardiff · data through July 2026
Is Cathays safe?
Cathays records a high level of reported crime for Cardiff. Its SafeRoute safety index is 36 out of 100 — 19 points below the Cardiff median of 55, ranking 25th of 28 Cardiff wards — based on 288 incidents reported to South Wales Police within 1 km of the ward centre over the month to July 2026.
DATA THROUGH JULY 2026 · 1 MONTH OF DATA
The 0–100 scale is calibrated to Cardiff — a typical Cardiff ward sits near 55. It ranks Cathays against other wards here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
The largest reported category here is violent crime (32% of reports) — worth taking seriously when walking at night; the full mix is broken down below.
Where incidents cluster
What's reported here
| Violent crime | 91 · 32% | |
| Public order | 28 · 10% | |
| Anti-social behaviour | 31 · 11% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 18 · 6% | |
| Vehicle crime | 21 · 7% | |
| Shoplifting | 35 · 12% |
Walking in Cathays at night?
SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same live crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Pick the safer way, share your walk, and check in when you arrive. Free, no account.
Get SafeRoute on the App StoreCommon questions
Is Cathays safe at night?
Elevated overall (safety index 36/100). At night, prefer lit, busier streets — a short detour often avoids the clusters on the map above.
What is the most common crime in Cathays?
Violent crime — 91 of 288 incidents (32%) reported within 1 km of the ward centre over the month to July 2026.
How is the Cathays safety index calculated?
SafeRoute weights each police-recorded incident by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last published month within 1 km of the ward centre, and normalises against Cardiff rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. It describes reported crime only; it is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within Cardiff, so scores compare wards to each other and cannot be read against another city's.