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Portaferry · Ards and North Down

Portaferry: your neighbourhood

Portaferry electoral ward · May 2026 boundaries. Every figure carries its own date.

What stands out here?

People aged 16+ with a degree or equivalent: 28.4% here, compared with 34.1% across Ards and North Down (5.7 percentage points lower).

Qualifications show local skills, not whether people have secure jobs or use those skills at work.

21 March 2021 · ward and council use the same source, measure and date.

Why this comparison is valid

The difference is in percentage points. The wider figure is the published council total, not the average of its wards. Differences describe groups, not every resident.

Source →
A proposed response →

Homes rented privately: 17% here, compared with 13% across Ards and North Down (3.8 percentage points higher).

A larger private-rented sector changes the mix of housing advice, enforcement and tenant support needed. It does not tell us whether individual homes are affordable or safe.

21 March 2021 · ward and council use the same source, measure and date.

Why this comparison is valid

The difference is in percentage points. The wider figure is the published council total, not the average of its wards. Differences describe groups, not every resident.

Source →
A proposed response →

People reporting bad or very bad health: 10.8% here, compared with 7.3% across Ards and North Down (3.5 percentage points higher).

Residents described their own health. Differences in age matter, so this is a prompt to investigate needs, not a score for local health services.

21 March 2021 · ward and council use the same source, measure and date.

Why this comparison is valid

The difference is in percentage points. The wider figure is the published council total, not the average of its wards. Differences describe groups, not every resident.

Source →
A proposed response →

The ward in numbers

People aged 65 or over

21%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-a02.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All usual residents

743 out of 3,545.

Source and method →

People reporting bad or very bad health

10.8%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-d01.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All usual residents; self-reported, not age-standardised

382 out of 3,540.

Source and method →

People counted in the census

3,544

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-a01.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All usual residents

3,544 out of 3,544.

Source and method →

People aged 16+ with a degree or equivalent

28.4%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-g01.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All usual residents aged 16 and over

831 out of 2,924.

Source and method →

People aged 16+ with no qualifications

21.2%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-g01.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All usual residents aged 16 and over

621 out of 2,924.

Source and method →

Homes rented privately

17%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-e15.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All households

251 out of 1,462.

Source and method →

Homes rented from a council or housing association

15%

21 March 2021 · Portaferry

Show the workings

First count table in Ward/LGD/NI worksheets of census-2021-ms-e15.xlsx. Each percentage uses its own table denominator. Census privacy adjustments can make totals differ slightly between tables.

All households

226 out of 1,462.

Source and method →

Crime and safety

Police-recorded locations for Portaferry ward. Locations are approximate; these are not all crimes or a measure of personal risk.

101 mapped crimes

September 2025 to August 2026. Compared with 84 in the previous 12 months. Anti-social behaviour is counted separately.

Mapped crime over time

September 2024 to August 2026

Portaferry ward · mapped crimes

Reviewed figures: September 2024 to August 2026. This reviewed record covers fewer than 30 years, so the chart opens on all of it.

Shown on this chart: 4 mapped crimes in September 2024; 9 mapped crimes in August 2026. These are recorded counts; check the coverage notes before comparing periods.

The line joins consecutive published observations.

Monthly crime and anti-social behaviour
Recorded locations by month · Portaferry
MonthMapped crimeAnti-social behaviour
September 202447
October 2024613
November 202432
December 202401
January 202544
February 202536
March 2025146
April 2025910
May 202592
June 2025115
July 2025128
August 202598
September 20251010
October 2025104
November 2025131
December 202511
January 202662
February 202651
March 202655
April 2026103
May 2026148
June 202681
July 2026103
August 202693
Crime categories in the latest complete year
September 2025 to August 2026 · Portaferry
CategoryMapped crimes
violent crime67
criminal damage arson7
other theft7
drugs6
other crime4
vehicle crime4
shoplifting4
burglary2
What these numbers include

Approximate published locations, not every crime or personal risk.

Anti-social behaviour is separate. Transport police and records without usable locations are excluded.

Do not compare directly with Scottish council-level recorded crime totals.

These are retrieved mapped records, not a guarantee of complete crime reporting. Approximate locations and unmapped incidents limit comparisons.

Publication history: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime data not provided for September 2024. The force will provide a data refresh as soon as possible. Later update: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime Data refreshed from January - May 2025, January to December 2024 and August to December 2023.

Publication history: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime data not provided for March 2025. The force will provide a data refresh as soon as possible. Later update: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime Data refreshed from January - May 2025, January to December 2024 and August to December 2023.

Publication history: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime data not provided for April 2025. The force will provide a data refresh as soon as possible. Later update: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime Data refreshed from January - May 2025, January to December 2024 and August to December 2023.

Publication history: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime data not provided for May 2025. The force will provide a data refresh as soon as possible. Later update: Police Service of Northern Ireland: Crime Data refreshed from January - May 2025, January to December 2024 and August to December 2023.

Missing ward-months invalidate totals and changes. Busy centres attract visitors, so residential population is not a measure of the number of people exposed.

Police data and method →

What could improve local safety →

Projects and proposed responses

A nearby project is not proof of a benefit to the whole ward. Only source-supported ward links are attached here.

No project boundary has been verified against this ward. See projects and their stated locations →

Proposed responses across Ards and North Down →