Crime data has revealed the most dangerous places to live in England and Wales.
Crime data has revealed the most dangerous places to live in England and Wales (Image: Getty)
New Home Office figures have revealed the most dangerous places to live in England and Wales – you can use our interactive map to find out if your area is rising or falling in the rankings. Over the last decade, crime has generally fallen nationwide, with some exceptions, such as fraud.
Estimates based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales show that there were around 9.3 million incidents of headline crime in the year ending September 2025, which include theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence. That was down from about 9.5 million the previous year. This annual poll, based on face-to-face interviews, seeks to measure the amount and impact of crime, including offences which may not have been reported to police.
Outside the capital, Blackpool has the highest crime rate in England and Wales (Image: Getty)
Recorded crime figures – offences reported to or recorded by police forces in England and Wales – have also fallen. In the year ending September, there were just under 5.3 million non-fraud crimes, about 93,000 fewer than the previous year – a 2% fall.
Crime fell across most of the country, with several exceptions, for example, Derby, where non-fraud crime increased by 15%.
Crime rates – the number of crimes in each area for every 1,000 people living there – reveal the likelihood of falling victim to crime. They show that, outside central London, where extremely high numbers of tourists make easy pickings for opportunistic criminals, people are most likely to become crime victims in Blackpool. Although it attracts nowhere near as many tourists as London, the seaside town remains a popular holiday destination and now has the highest crime rate in the country, outside the capital.
Last year it was ranked sixth overall, and third outside London. But this year it has overtaken Middlesbrough and Manchester with a crime rate of 152 offences per 1,000 people – the equivalent of about one in seven people falling victim to a crime.
You can see whether your area is rising or falling in the crime rankings using our interactive map below.
Manchester retains the second-highest crime rate outside London, and the fifth-highest overall, with 145 crimes per 1,000 residents. Meanwhile, Middlesbrough had the nation’s highest crime rate outside London this time last year, but a 7% drop in offending has seen it slide down the rankings to third, or sixth overall, with a rate of 144 crimes per 1,000 people.
Hartlepool (130 crimes per 1,000 people), Bristol (129), Liverpool (122), Bradford (121) and Southampton (121) had the next-highest crime rates.
Meanwhile, Nottingham was the biggest climber in the rankings. The East Midlands city was ranked 25th a year ago, but a 2% increase in crime, when it fell in most areas, was enough to see Nottingham rise to the ninth highest outside London, and 14th overall with a crime rate of 121 per 1,000 people. Kingston-upon-Hull rounded out the top 10 (119 per 1,000 residents).
In London, Westminster generally has by far the highest crime rate, but this is likely skewed by high numbers of tourists being preyed on by opportunistic criminals. Despite a 7% fall in crime in the year to September, the rate was 410 crimes per 1,000 people. That’s nearly three times as high as Blackpool. Camden was second with 189 crimes per 1,000 people. Last year, Kensington and Chelsea had a lower crime rate than Middlesbrough, but with crime falling faster in the North East city than in the exclusive London borough, Kensington and Chelsea was ranked third overall, with a crime rate of 152 offences per 1,000 people.
Top 10 areas with the highest crime rates outside London – full list
- Blackpool: 151.7
- Manchester: 144.5
- Middlesbrough: 144.4
- Hartlepool: 130.1
- Bristol, City of: 129.1
- Liverpool: 121.6
- Bradford: 121.4
- Southampton: 120.9
- Nottingham: 120.8
- Kingston upon Hull, City of: 118.9
Top 10 areas with the highest crime rates in London
- Westminster: 410.1
- Camden: 188.6
- Kensington and Chelsea: 155.6
- Islington: 136.8
- Southwark: 125.4
- Hackney: 120.8
- Lambeth: 116.7
- Hammersmith and Fulham: 112.6
- Haringey: 108.2
- Tower Hamlets: 106.7
A the other end of the spectrum, Broadland in Norfolk has the lowest crime rate in the country. It is followed by Ribble Valley in Lancashire and Waverley in Surrey.
