Last year saw a reduction in crime in the UK (Image: Getty)
The most dangerous places to live in England and Wales are revealed in a new map showing the areas where residents are most likely to be plagued by crime. Last year, more than 5.3 million non-fraud crimes were recorded by the 43 domestic police forces in England and Wales.
That was about 300,000 fewer crimes than in 2023, a 2% fall. As usual, the Met Police had the largest caseload, with 948,000 crimes reported in London last year. Of smaller community safety partnership areas, which broadly match local authority areas, Birmingham saw the most crime with more than 136,000 offences in 2024, including robbery, rape, burglary and murder.
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Westminster had some of the highest crime rates recorded in UK (Image: Getty)
However, crime rates – the number of crimes in each area for every 1,000 people living there – show that the risk of being preyed on by a criminal is probably greatest in Middlesbrough.
These figures allow for a fairer comparison of the threats to law and order in places with widely different population sizes.
While Westminster, with a rate of 432 crimes per 1,000 residents, has by far the highest crime rate in the country, that is probably explained by the vast number of tourists who are targeted by thieves and other criminals every year.
Fashionable Camden is next (195 crimes per 1,000 residents), which is also a big draw for visitors.
The next biggest crime rate is far away from the capital city, in the North East. In Middlesbrough, there were nearly 24,000 crimes committed last year. That’s a rate of 162 per 1,000 residents, or the equivalent of one crime for every six people who live there.
While many people visit Middlesbrough from outside the area, the Teesside city has nowhere near the same international appeal as Westminster.
After Middlesbrough, affluent Kensington and Chelsea in London has the highest crime rate (157 crimes per 1,000 people), then Blackpool (156), Manchester (156), and Hartlepool (141).
Using our interactive map, you can check the crime rate where you live, whether crime is rising or falling, and how it compares nationally.
While overall non-fraud crime in England and Wales fell last year, several police forces saw an increase in offending. The biggest rise was in Devon and Cornwall, where officers recorded 17% more crime than the previous year, followed by Avon and Somerset Constabulary (14%).
Exeter, within the Devon and Cornwall police force area, saw the biggest rise in crime, with non-fraud offences soaring by 29% to more than 13,000.
Torbay was next (up 22%), followed by Bath and North East Somerset (20%). However, more than two in three community safety partnership areas saw a drop in crime, with Derbyshire Dales seeing the greatest drop in crime, of 21%.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary says it is now easier for people to report crime, which may account for the increase, along with greater public confidence in reporting offending.
A spokesperson said: “We recognise the importance of data in policing and have recently made substantial strides in both improving our recording of crime and in making it easier for the public to report incidents to us.
“More accurate data allows our resources to be used as effectively as possible to tackle the issues affecting our communities and make them even safer places to be. The increase also reflects increased confidence among the public in coming forward and that is something we welcome.”
Devon and Cornwall Police has been asked for a response.
The newly published crime figures come as the results of the latest Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) are also published.
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.
The latest survey estimates that 9.6 million incidents of “headline” crime – which includes theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury – occurred in 2024.
That was about 8.4m more incidents than in the previous year, because of rises in fraud and theft. Fraud, for example, increased by 33%, with an estimated 4.1m people falling victim to scammers, while theft increased by 13% to around 2.9m crimes.
However, the CSEW shows that crime against individuals and households has generally fallen over the last decade, but with some significant exceptions, such as sexual assault.
It estimated that around 2.0m people over the age of 16 experienced domestic abuse in the last year, around 1.5m people were targeted by a stalker, and around one million suffered a sexual assault.
Crimes involving knives increased by 2% to just under 55,000 offences, while crimes involving firearms fell by 20% (to around 5,000 incidents).