What is the safest place to live in England?

Based on Home Office recorded-crime data for the year ending December 2025, Isles of Scilly has the lowest recorded crime rate in England at 321 crimes per 10,000 people.

What are the safest parts of England?

Rural districts in the Home Counties (Surrey, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire), East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk), and the North West (Lancashire's wealthier districts) consistently fill the top of the list. Small populations and low-density rural geography both push the per-resident rate down.

Is rural England safer than urban England?

Generally, yes. The 50 lowest-crime English authorities are predominantly small rural and market-town districts. London boroughs and post-industrial city centres are at the higher end, partly because resident-population denominators are small relative to the daytime population in city centres.

What is the average crime rate in England?

Across the 251 English local authorities with published crime data, the average recorded crime rate is around 801 per 10,000 people. Rates range from 321 per 10,000 in Isles of Scilly to over 5,728 in the highest-crime urban authorities.

Where does English crime data come from?

English crime data uses the Home Office police recorded crime tables for the year ending December 2025. Kent's authorities are excluded from our rankings because the Home Office's CSP-level data for the Kent force is unreliable.

Safest Places to Live in England 2026 - Ranked by Crime Rate

England's safest places are predominantly small rural and market-town districts. The Isles of Scilly top the list with around 321 recorded crimes per 10,000 people, an unusually low figure shaped by the islands' small population. Rural districts in the Home Counties, East Anglia, and the North West regularly fill the top ranks. Inner London boroughs and post-industrial city centres sit further down. We've ranked the English local authorities with published Home Office crime data for the year ending December 2025.

We've ranked 251 English local authorities by recorded crime rate per 10,000 residents. The safest area is Isles of Scilly at 321 per 10,000.

The ranking: 251 English areas by crime rate

Sorted lowest crime first. Recorded crime rate is the number of crimes per 10,000 people from official police-recorded data.

#	Area	Crime / 10k	Monthly cost	Avg salary
1	Isles of Scilly	321	N/A	N/A
2	Broadland	352	£1,334/mo	£30,920
3	Waverley	370	£1,697/mo	£42,326
4	Ribble Valley	375	£1,234/mo	£34,077
5	North Kesteven	383	£1,236/mo	£30,585
6	Wokingham	404	£1,715/mo	£43,538
7	South Oxfordshire	405	£1,682/mo	£43,026
8	Wealden	412	£1,562/mo	£33,376
9	North Norfolk	416	£1,265/mo	£28,421
10	Rutland	417	£1,338/mo	£39,559
11	South Norfolk	418	£1,336/mo	£32,934
12	Maldon	435	£1,445/mo	£32,599
13	Rochford	435	£1,521/mo	£38,107
14	East Hampshire	436	£1,537/mo	£39,682
15	West Oxfordshire	437	£1,586/mo	£35,388
16	Harborough	444	£1,340/mo	£34,321
17	Cotswold	449	£1,532/mo	£32,927
18	Derbyshire Dales	453	£1,217/mo	£33,700
19	East Cambridgeshire	453	£1,364/mo	£34,311
20	Horsham	454	£1,652/mo	£36,448
21	Mid Sussex	458	£1,649/mo	£37,705
22	South Cambridgeshire	458	£1,656/mo	£42,690
23	Vale of White Horse	463	£1,630/mo	£38,859
24	Tewkesbury	467	£1,321/mo	£31,603
25	North Yorkshire	474	£1,229/mo	£30,683
26	Shropshire	482	£1,238/mo	£29,603
27	Forest of Dean	483	£1,246/mo	£36,589
28	West Lancashire	484	£1,224/mo	£31,884
29	Central Bedfordshire	487	£1,507/mo	£36,622
30	Wiltshire	489	£1,397/mo	£31,873
31	Breckland	497	£1,298/mo	£28,930
32	Stroud	497	£1,401/mo	£33,495
33	North Hertfordshire	501	£1,652/mo	£42,703
34	South Staffordshire	505	£1,287/mo	£31,766
35	Herefordshire	506	£1,240/mo	£29,361
36	Dorset	507	£1,396/mo	£31,444
37	East Riding of Yorkshire	508	£1,136/mo	£31,881
38	Elmbridge	512	£1,880/mo	£42,607
39	Fareham	514	£1,491/mo	£38,851
40	Castle Point	517	£1,558/mo	£35,975
41	East Hertfordshire	517	£1,712/mo	£44,154
42	Uttlesford	518	£1,541/mo	£41,006
43	Three Rivers	521	£1,908/mo	£39,615
44	North East Derbyshire	522	£1,198/mo	£30,931
45	South Derbyshire	522	£1,236/mo	£35,452
46	South Kesteven	522	£1,206/mo	£29,071
47	Test Valley	524	£1,505/mo	£35,314
48	Surrey Heath	525	£1,689/mo	£37,793
49	Bracknell Forest	530	£1,734/mo	£36,067
50	Braintree	536	£1,497/mo	£34,546
51	Hinckley and Bosworth	537	£1,266/mo	£31,591
52	Fylde	542	£1,239/mo	£36,020
53	North West Leicestershire	544	£1,261/mo	£32,252
54	New Forest	545	£1,505/mo	£31,344
55	Oadby and Wigston	546	£1,367/mo	£28,368
56	Eastleigh	547	£1,498/mo	£34,474
57	Rugby	550	£1,382/mo	£41,814
58	Lichfield	552	£1,367/mo	£33,763
59	Tandridge	552	£1,788/mo	£33,316
60	Lewes	553	£1,584/mo	£33,088
61	Winchester	555	£1,654/mo	£38,352
62	Staffordshire Moorlands	556	£1,153/mo	£31,065
63	South Ribble	557	£1,191/mo	£32,740
64	West Berkshire	558	£1,544/mo	£38,513
65	Mole Valley	559	£1,789/mo	£35,341
66	Chorley	568	£1,220/mo	£33,337
67	Huntingdonshire	572	£1,390/mo	£33,375
68	High Peak	573	£1,237/mo	£32,258
69	Richmond upon Thames	575	£2,436/mo	£46,594
70	Windsor and Maidenhead	582	£1,870/mo	£37,653
71	Adur	587	£1,634/mo	£30,217
72	Harrow	587	£2,105/mo	£36,000
73	Rother	587	£1,468/mo	£30,790
74	Wyre	588	£1,152/mo	£29,814
75	Blaby	595	£1,339/mo	£31,950
76	Cheshire East	597	£1,329/mo	£33,221
77	Sutton	599	£1,951/mo	£38,359
78	South Holland	602	£1,210/mo	£30,196
79	Melton	603	£1,185/mo	£26,633
80	Reigate and Banstead	603	£1,790/mo	£40,014
81	Merton	605	£2,278/mo	£43,507
82	West Lindsey	609	£1,152/mo	£30,741
83	Bexley	611	£1,944/mo	£36,883
84	North Warwickshire	616	£1,358/mo	£35,067
85	Stafford	618	£1,249/mo	£33,872
86	Chichester	619	£1,588/mo	£28,585
87	Cornwall	622	£1,358/mo	£28,210
88	Woking	633	£1,789/mo	£38,172
89	Cherwell	636	£1,621/mo	£36,568
90	Brentwood	640	£1,732/mo	£39,864
91	East Staffordshire	640	£1,230/mo	£31,517
92	Epping Forest	641	£1,853/mo	£38,171
93	Rossendale	642	£1,236/mo	£30,487
94	St Albans	642	£1,902/mo	£45,543
95	Bolsover	664	£1,134/mo	£29,674
96	Amber Valley	665	£1,210/mo	£30,823
97	Epsom and Ewell	665	£1,831/mo	£43,006
98	Cheshire West and Chester	667	£1,347/mo	£32,391
99	Barnet	668	£2,188/mo	£39,239
100	York	669	£1,490/mo	£32,961
101	Kingston upon Thames	670	£2,103/mo	£41,833
102	Charnwood	679	£1,307/mo	£33,550
103	Newark and Sherwood	679	£1,196/mo	£29,806
104	Havering	682	£1,942/mo	£40,726
105	Swindon	688	£1,466/mo	£33,135
106	Warrington	688	£1,301/mo	£34,144
107	Dacorum	689	£1,731/mo	£36,473
108	Newcastle-under-Lyme	689	£1,206/mo	£31,205
109	Chelmsford	692	£1,699/mo	£35,791
110	Pendle	692	£1,132/mo	£26,742
111	Tamworth	693	£1,336/mo	£33,167
112	East Lindsey	695	£1,132/mo	£26,705
113	Bromley	699	£2,007/mo	£43,981
114	Wirral	699	£1,198/mo	£32,959
115	Broxbourne	702	£1,745/mo	£37,283
116	Runnymede	708	£1,724/mo	£42,203
117	Northumberland	714	£1,121/mo	£30,456
118	Arun	718	£1,491/mo	£29,809
119	Cannock Chase	720	£1,207/mo	£30,178
120	Erewash	720	£1,233/mo	£31,673
121	Guildford	721	£1,815/mo	£39,985
122	South Gloucestershire	724	£1,649/mo	£35,002
123	Lancaster	732	£1,231/mo	£29,651
124	Redbridge	738	£2,078/mo	£37,190
125	Trafford	739	£1,568/mo	£35,593
126	Gosport	744	£1,453/mo	£34,256
127	Dudley	748	£1,224/mo	£30,822
128	Telford and Wrekin	749	£1,220/mo	£31,459
129	Stockport	750	£1,445/mo	£33,565
130	Hertsmere	755	£1,873/mo	£36,159
131	Isle of Wight	757	£1,316/mo	£26,740
132	Fenland	759	£1,271/mo	£30,125
133	Sefton	759	£1,260/mo	£29,335
134	Spelthorne	760	£1,841/mo	£37,918
135	North Lincolnshire	762	£1,092/mo	£30,012
136	Wandsworth	766	£2,542/mo	£49,310
137	Havant	767	£1,476/mo	£30,819
138	Bedford	777	£1,442/mo	£35,987
139	Bath and North East Somerset	787	£1,853/mo	£32,481
140	Bassetlaw	789	£1,148/mo	£28,314
141	Solihull	789	£1,467/mo	£36,672
142	Tendring	790	£1,390/mo	£29,545
143	Cheltenham	792	£1,504/mo	£36,014
144	Welwyn Hatfield	792	£1,678/mo	£37,805
145	Ashfield	800	£1,196/mo	£27,797
146	Colchester	805	£1,470/mo	£31,589
147	Croydon	806	£1,983/mo	£38,080
148	Worthing	808	£1,550/mo	£32,823
149	Ealing	811	£2,290/mo	£35,665
150	Nuneaton and Bedworth	811	£1,290/mo	£32,402
151	Waltham Forest	811	£2,114/mo	£37,971
152	Knowsley	815	£1,210/mo	£32,542
153	North Tyneside	822	£1,212/mo	£31,106
154	North Somerset	825	£1,471/mo	£32,996
155	Luton	829	£1,546/mo	£28,741
156	Somerset	831	£1,332/mo	£29,908
157	Barking and Dagenham	842	£2,079/mo	£32,911
158	Blackburn with Darwen	842	£1,171/mo	£27,502
159	Thurrock	845	£1,551/mo	£36,407
160	Basildon	853	£1,602/mo	£34,133
161	Enfield	856	£2,092/mo	£34,962
162	Halton	856	£1,171/mo	£29,819
163	Slough	863	£1,791/mo	£35,521
164	Boston	867	£1,226/mo	£27,729
165	St. Helens	868	£1,208/mo	£31,443
166	Hounslow	869	£2,256/mo	£35,301
167	Watford	871	£1,903/mo	£37,172
168	Milton Keynes	873	£1,611/mo	£36,061
169	Ipswich	882	£1,384/mo	£30,928
170	Coventry	883	£1,404/mo	£33,063
171	Kirklees	892	£1,209/mo	£30,238
172	County Durham	894	£1,095/mo	£29,718
173	Gateshead	899	£1,235/mo	£29,494
174	Brent	900	£2,256/mo	£34,871
175	Greenwich	904	£2,228/mo	£39,984
176	Walsall	905	£1,290/mo	£29,112
177	Stevenage	906	£1,655/mo	£35,747
178	Darlington	909	£1,123/mo	£30,100
179	Rotherham	909	£1,121/mo	£29,664
180	Bury	917	£1,332/mo	£31,687
181	Harlow	917	£1,654/mo	£30,654
182	Hillingdon	917	£1,936/mo	£36,429
183	Mansfield	919	£1,186/mo	£28,170
184	Plymouth	919	£1,350/mo	£28,992
185	Wolverhampton	919	£1,308/mo	£31,308
186	Wigan	922	£1,155/mo	£31,615
187	Cambridge	926	£1,896/mo	£38,711
188	Hyndburn	934	£1,121/mo	£29,647
189	Torbay	934	£1,264/mo	£28,963
190	Lewisham	939	£2,155/mo	£39,505
191	Sunderland	946	£1,139/mo	£27,989
192	Barnsley	949	£1,123/mo	£31,359
193	Sandwell	952	£1,298/mo	£27,652
194	Tameside	954	£1,316/mo	£29,877
195	Southend-on-Sea	956	£1,495/mo	£33,594
196	Reading	957	£1,779/mo	£35,454
197	Exeter	959	£1,571/mo	£29,531
198	Preston	966	£1,220/mo	£30,038
199	Great Yarmouth	970	£1,218/mo	£28,808
200	Sheffield	974	£1,329/mo	£31,816
201	Oxford	977	£2,006/mo	£36,517
202	Bolton	984	£1,281/mo	£29,409
203	South Tyneside	984	£1,144/mo	£28,784
204	Chesterfield	986	£1,158/mo	£30,621
205	Stockton-on-Tees	997	£1,183/mo	£29,877
206	Leicester	1,006	£1,363/mo	£27,858
207	Brighton and Hove	1,018	£1,856/mo	£33,506
208	Burnley	1,032	£1,108/mo	£29,680
209	Newham	1,037	£2,313/mo	£36,080
210	Peterborough	1,047	£1,321/mo	£29,828
211	Rochdale	1,055	£1,251/mo	£29,535
212	Salford	1,059	£1,534/mo	£30,495
213	Calderdale	1,064	£1,178/mo	£31,708
214	Tower Hamlets	1,064	£2,634/mo	£45,183
215	Oldham	1,067	£1,331/mo	£29,124
216	Haringey	1,070	£2,348/mo	£37,563
217	Redcar and Cleveland	1,075	£1,100/mo	£28,630
218	Hastings	1,078	£1,361/mo	£29,323
219	Wakefield	1,084	£1,197/mo	£29,954
220	Gloucester	1,088	£1,385/mo	£30,455
221	Stoke-on-Trent	1,088	£1,136/mo	£29,041
222	Hammersmith and Fulham	1,089	£2,592/mo	£42,811
223	Newcastle upon Tyne	1,092	£1,454/mo	£30,144
224	Norwich	1,092	£1,430/mo	£30,421
225	Derby	1,093	£1,229/mo	£30,467
226	Eastbourne	1,097	£1,476/mo	£31,199
227	Crawley	1,115	£1,705/mo	£34,225
228	Portsmouth	1,129	£1,533/mo	£30,962
229	Lambeth	1,136	£2,581/mo	£43,666
230	Birmingham	1,141	£1,456/mo	£30,180
231	Leeds	1,161	£1,404/mo	£31,679
232	Doncaster	1,165	£1,112/mo	£31,119
233	Hackney	1,176	£2,656/mo	£40,237
234	Lincoln	1,176	£1,294/mo	£29,824
235	North East Lincolnshire	1,181	£1,078/mo	£28,898
236	Bradford	1,196	£1,182/mo	£28,424
237	Hull	1,201	£1,126/mo	£27,309
238	Southampton	1,203	£1,519/mo	£32,907
239	Southwark	1,215	£2,506/mo	£43,006
240	Nottingham	1,222	£1,391/mo	£26,512
241	Liverpool	1,235	£1,328/mo	£30,947
242	Bristol	1,303	£1,902/mo	£34,051
243	Hartlepool	1,323	£1,056/mo	£28,830
244	Islington	1,337	£2,797/mo	£47,411
245	Manchester	1,432	£1,620/mo	£30,067
246	Middlesbrough	1,465	£1,153/mo	£30,253
247	Blackpool	1,487	£1,131/mo	£27,979
248	Kensington and Chelsea	1,497	£3,249/mo	£46,690
249	Camden	1,796	£2,642/mo	£44,088
250	Westminster	3,799	£3,122/mo	£45,172
251	City of London	5,728	N/A	N/A

251 areas with published crime data covered. Areas without reliable crime data are excluded.

Top 10 safest English areas, in detail

Isles of Scilly

321 per 10,000

Tiny island archipelago off Cornwall. Very small population shapes the per-resident crime rate.

See the full crime breakdown on the Isles of Scilly area profile.

Broadland

352 per 10,000

Norfolk district surrounding (but not including) Norwich. Rural, leafy, and consistently low crime.

See the full crime breakdown on the Broadland area profile.

Waverley

370 per 10,000

Surrey district covering Farnham, Godalming, and Haslemere. Affluent commuter belt.

See the full crime breakdown on the Waverley area profile.

Ribble Valley

375 per 10,000

Lancashire's wealthiest district. Small market towns and Forest of Bowland.

See the full crime breakdown on the Ribble Valley area profile.

North Kesteven

383 per 10,000

Lincolnshire market-town district around Sleaford. Quiet, rural, low-crime.

See the full crime breakdown on the North Kesteven area profile.

Wokingham

404 per 10,000

Berkshire authority south of Reading. One of the wealthiest in the UK by household income, with very low recorded crime.

See the full crime breakdown on the Wokingham area profile.

South Oxfordshire

405 per 10,000

A English authority with a low recorded crime rate. Typically a smaller-population area or a suburban/rural district.

See the full crime breakdown on the South Oxfordshire area profile.

Wealden

412 per 10,000

A English authority with a low recorded crime rate. Typically a smaller-population area or a suburban/rural district.

See the full crime breakdown on the Wealden area profile.

North Norfolk

416 per 10,000

A English authority with a low recorded crime rate. Typically a smaller-population area or a suburban/rural district.

See the full crime breakdown on the North Norfolk area profile.

Rutland

417 per 10,000

England's smallest historic county. Stamford, Oakham, and a lot of countryside.

See the full crime breakdown on the Rutland area profile.

Regional context

English crime data comes from the Home Office's police recorded crime figures for the year ending December 2025. Recording practices vary slightly between forces. London boroughs tend to record higher rates partly because the resident population is small relative to the daytime population (workers and tourists), so rates per resident are inflated.

A note on the data

Crime rates are based on recorded crimes per 10,000 residents from the Home Office (England and Wales, year ending December 2025) or the Scottish Government (Scotland, 2024-25). Recording practices vary between police forces and recorded crime doesn't capture unreported crime. These figures are a directional indicator of police activity and reported incidents rather than a complete picture of crime in an area. Explore our UK crime map for a visual view.