Listz area intelligence

Lowest and highest council crime rates

Police.uk street-level incidents per 1,000 residents across comparable council areas in England and Wales, using a complete rolling 12-month period.

Feb 2025–Jan 2026Current 12-month period
308 councils286 England and 22 Wales
Rate per 1,000Population-normalised comparison

Greater Manchester is excluded. Greater Manchester Police did not provide data throughout the comparison period, so its ten councils cannot be ranked fairly.

City of London needs special care. Rates use resident population, but the City has a very small resident population and a very large daily worker and visitor population. Its rate is therefore not directly comparable with a typical residential council.

Lowest reported rate: Shoplifting

Lowest reported rate for Shoplifting
RankCouncil areaNationRate/1,000IncidentsPrevious rateCount change
1Ribble ValleyEngland1.3871.7-21.6%
2West DevonEngland1.6941.7-6.9%
3East DevonEngland1.62602.3-28.0%
4PowysWales1.82422.0-9.7%
5Mid SuffolkEngland2.02221.8+14.4%
6Forest of DeanEngland2.01811.7+19.9%
7BaberghEngland2.22152.9-24.0%
8BroadlandEngland2.33162.6-13.4%
9South HamsEngland2.32181.8+31.3%
10MaldonEngland2.41712.3+9.6%
11South StaffordshireEngland2.52823.4-27.9%
12South CambridgeshireEngland2.54413.0-14.5%
13North WarwickshireEngland2.61732.0+27.2%
14RochfordEngland2.62342.1+23.2%
15RutlandEngland2.61082.0+28.6%
16Isles of ScillyEngland2.661.3+100.0%
17South DerbyshireEngland2.73173.9-30.6%
18North NorfolkEngland2.72833.4-18.9%
19West LancashireEngland2.73383.3-15.7%
20HartEngland2.92963.9-25.8%

Highest reported rate: Shoplifting

Highest reported rate for Shoplifting
RankCouncil areaNationRate/1,000IncidentsPrevious rateCount change
1City of LondonEngland110.21,722105.8+5.1%
2WestminsterEngland38.38,14130.3+24.6%
3EastbourneEngland24.02,49121.8+9.7%
4HartlepoolEngland23.22,31323.2+1.9%
5LincolnEngland22.72,34824.9-10.2%
6Kensington and ChelseaEngland21.93,19416.1+35.1%
7DartfordEngland18.42,32215.9+17.0%
8CamdenEngland18.03,90916.2+9.3%
9HastingsEngland17.51,5879.8+78.3%
10CambridgeEngland17.32,58719.3-11.4%
11NorwichEngland16.92,45716.4+1.7%
12Brighton and HoveEngland16.74,74816.6+0.1%
13CanterburyEngland16.72,71110.4+59.9%
14NottinghamEngland16.55,37217.3-6.3%
15CrawleyEngland16.42,03915.6+5.5%
16WorthingEngland16.01,82017.2-6.8%
17North East LincolnshireEngland15.42,46710.3+49.4%
18ReadingEngland15.22,78613.9+10.0%
19MiddlesbroughEngland14.92,27712.7+15.7%
20ExeterEngland14.41,99115.5-7.3%

Methodology and limitations

Ranking measure

Street-level incidents assigned to LSOAs, aggregated to current councils and divided by the 2025 resident population. Results are shown per 1,000 residents.

Overall crime

The overall measure includes the Police.uk recorded crime categories but excludes anti-social behaviour, which has its own separate ranking.

Comparable coverage

The system automatically selects the newest 24-month window in which all geographic forces except Greater Manchester Police supplied data. British Transport Police is outside this geographic measure.

Location coverage

Police.uk coordinates are anonymised approximate locations. Around 98% of source records contain an LSOA; incidents without an LSOA cannot be assigned to a council.

Source: Police.uk street-level crime and anti-social behaviour data. Population denominator: Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates via Nomis. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.