Is Reading safe? For most residents and visitors, yes: Reading recorded 18,086 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026, a crime rate of 78.39 per 1,000 people: about 40 per cent above the Berkshire average of 56.14, 28 per cent above the South East (61.44) and about 15 per cent above England (around 68), but below every large city we compare except Cardiff, where the rate is almost the same. The total rose 4.3 per cent on the previous year (17,344), while Berkshire as a whole stayed flat. Violence and sexual offences make up 40 per cent of it; shoplifting and theft from the person run at about twice the county rate, and bicycle theft is one of the highest in the region. The figures describe recorded incidents, not the people who live in the town.
Data: police-recorded crime, 12 months to April 2026, counts and rates from CrimeRate’s analysis of data.police.uk (Thames Valley Police, Reading; updated 7 June 2026); neighbourhood counts from police.uk, 12 months to August 2026 (one team to July 2026). Shares and ratios are our own arithmetic on those figures. Updated 29 October 2026: CrimeRate’s 12 months to April 2026 is still the latest release (Berkshire 66,495 offences at 56.14 per 1,000 and South East 61.44 re-checked today); Reading’s own CrimeRate page could not be re-read today, so its figures stand as checked on 16 October from the same release. data.police.uk’s latest month is still August 2026.
What is the crime rate in Reading?
78.39 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026, according to CrimeRate. That is 18,086 offences, not counting 2,008 anti-social behaviour reports (20,094 incidents with them). The rate is about 40 per cent above Berkshire (56.14), 28 per cent above the South East (61.44) and about 15 per cent above England (around 68). A year earlier Reading recorded 17,344 offences at 75.19 per 1,000.
Is Reading safe compared with other towns and cities?
Reading sits in the middle of the table. Its rate of 78.39 is almost exactly the same as Slough (78.72) and Cardiff (79.55), a little below Newcastle and Sheffield, and a third or more below Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds or Nottingham. It is higher than the commuter towns of Luton, High Wycombe and Watford. All rates below come from the same source and method.
| Place | Per 1,000, 12 months to April 2026 | Compared with Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster (London) | 125.00 | 59% higher |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 37% higher |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 37% higher |
| Southampton | 106.50 | 36% higher |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 36% higher |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 34% higher |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 33% higher |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 25% higher |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 7% higher |
| Newcastle | 82.69 | 5% higher |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 1% higher |
| Slough | 78.72 | about the same |
| Reading | 78.39 | – |
| Luton | 74.46 | 5% lower |
| High Wycombe | 73.62 | 6% lower |
| Watford | 72.05 | 8% lower |
| South East | 61.44 | 22% lower |
| Berkshire | 56.14 | 28% lower |
For other Thames Valley and commuter towns, read High Wycombe crime rate, is Milton Keynes safe?, Watford crime rate and Luton crime rate, which use the same source and period. For the nearest big city on the south coast, see is Southampton safe?, and for the capital, is London safe?
Is Reading the most dangerous town in Berkshire?
Not quite. Reading records the most crime of any place in Berkshire, 18,086 of the county’s 66,495 offences (27 per cent), because it is the county’s largest town and its main shopping, office and night-time centre. Per head it ranks second of the 22 places CrimeRate lists, a fraction behind Slough (78.72). Windsor (71.44) and Newbury (68.64) follow. The towns and suburbs around Reading are much lower: Tilehurst 46.54, Earley 38.32, Wokingham 37.77, Woodley 36.18 and Shinfield 30.49.
| Place (Berkshire) | Crimes, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Slough | 13,721 | 78.72 |
| Reading | 18,086 | 78.39 |
| Windsor | 2,680 | 71.44 |
| Newbury | 3,058 | 68.64 |
| Bracknell | 4,892 | 58.89 |
| Thatcham | 1,447 | 53.12 |
| Maidenhead | 4,011 | 47.80 |
| Tilehurst | 686 | 46.54 |
| Earley | 1,514 | 38.32 |
| Wokingham | 1,711 | 37.77 |
| Woodley | 1,095 | 36.18 |
| Shinfield | 808 | 30.49 |
| Warfield | 296 | 23.30 |
Source: CrimeRate Berkshire, a selection of the 22 places it lists. Berkshire as a whole recorded 66,495 offences (56.14 per 1,000), almost unchanged from 66,383 (56.09) a year earlier. Warfield has the lowest rate in the county.
What kind of crime is recorded in Reading?
Violence and sexual offences are the largest category, with 7,156 offences, 39.6 per cent of the total. The 13 categories below add up to exactly 18,086; anti-social behaviour (2,008 reports) comes on top. The last columns compare Reading’s rate with the Berkshire rate for the same category, from the same source.
| Category | Reading, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 | Share of total | Berkshire per 1,000 | Reading vs county |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 7,156 | 31.02 | 39.6% | 23.72 | +31% |
| Shoplifting | 2,903 | 12.58 | 16.1% | 6.06 | +108% |
| Other theft | 1,644 | 7.12 | 9.1% | 4.79 | +49% |
| Public order | 1,543 | 6.69 | 8.5% | 4.88 | +37% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 1,200 | 5.21 | 6.6% | 4.50 | +16% |
| Vehicle crime | 943 | 4.08 | 5.2% | 4.01 | +2% |
| Burglary | 688 | 2.98 | 3.8% | 2.14 | +39% |
| Drugs | 506 | 2.20 | 2.8% | 1.98 | +11% |
| Bicycle theft | 436 | 1.89 | 2.4% | 1.03 | +83% |
| Other crime | 348 | 1.51 | 1.9% | 1.27 | +19% |
| Robbery | 321 | 1.38 | 1.8% | 0.79 | +75% |
| Theft from the person | 272 | 1.19 | 1.5% | 0.58 | +105% |
| Possession of weapons | 126 | 0.54 | 0.7% | 0.39 | +38% |
| Anti-social behaviour (not in total) | 2,008 | 8.70 | – | 7.25 | +20% |
Four things stand out. First, shoplifting is Reading’s distinctive crime: 2,903 offences, one in six of everything recorded, at twice the Berkshire rate. Reading alone accounts for 40 per cent of the county’s recorded shoplifting (2,903 of 7,173), which follows the size of its shopping centres and high street rather than the risk to any shopper. Second, the thefts that follow crowds and commuters are high: theft from the person (40 per cent of the county’s total), robbery (34 per cent) and bicycle theft (36 per cent). CrimeRate’s index puts Reading’s bicycle theft at 2.59 times the national rate, the highest index of any category here, so a good lock matters more than usual. Third, violence, the biggest category, is 31 per cent above the county rate but close to the national level (index 1.02). The category is broad and includes harassment, stalking, domestic incidents and assaults without injury, much of it between people who know each other. Fourth, some categories are not high at all: vehicle crime is at the county rate, and anti-social behaviour (index 0.62), drugs (0.71) and weapons possession (0.64) are below the national rate.
Is crime in Reading going up or down?
Up slightly in the latest year, after two years of falls. CrimeRate records 17,344 offences (75.19 per 1,000) in the 12 months to April 2025 and 18,086 (78.39) in the 12 months to April 2026: 742 more, a rise of 4.3 per cent, while Berkshire rose only 0.2 per cent. The latest figure is still 8.7 per cent below the peak of 19,817 (88.60 per 1,000) in the 12 months to April 2023.
| Year (12 months to April) | Crimes | Per 1,000 | Berkshire per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 13,769 | 63.94 | 46.17 |
| 2018 | 14,632 | 67.32 | 46.85 |
| 2019 | 14,817 | 67.45 | 51.80 |
| 2020 | 14,942 | 67.69 | 52.24 |
| 2021 | 15,698 | 71.04 | 53.72 |
| 2022 | 18,796 | 84.96 | 61.18 |
| 2023 | 19,817 | 88.60 | 63.99 |
| 2024 | 18,213 | 79.80 | 59.89 |
| 2025 | 17,344 | 75.19 | 56.09 |
| 2026 | 18,086 | 78.39 | 56.14 |
Unlike most towns we cover, Reading did not dip during the lockdown year: recorded crime rose every year from 2017 to 2023. Across the whole period Reading’s rate has stayed between about 1.3 and 1.45 times the Berkshire rate, so the gap with the rest of the county is long-standing, not new.
Which parts of Reading record the most crime?
Thames Valley Police covers Reading through eight neighbourhood teams, and police.uk publishes 12-month counts for each, including anti-social behaviour. Abbey and Battle, which covers the town centre, records more than the next three teams combined.
| Neighbourhood (police.uk) | Incidents, 12 months | Latest month | Top categories in the latest month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey and Battle | 7,458 | 746 (Aug 2026) | Violence 217, shoplifting 128, other theft 86, public order 70 |
| Whitley and Church | 2,633 | 199 (Aug 2026) | Violence 81, public order 23, shoplifting 20, anti-social behaviour 15 |
| Minster and Katesgrove* | 2,370 | 233 (Jul 2026) | Violence 80, anti-social behaviour 53, other theft 23, public order 16 |
| Southcote and Norcot | 2,337 | 238 (Aug 2026) | Violence 98, anti-social behaviour 41, other theft 27, public order 20 |
| Redlands and Park | 2,246 | 124 (Aug 2026) | Violence 33, shoplifting 25, other theft 14, public order 12 |
| Kentwood and Tilehurst | 1,639 | 153 (Aug 2026) | Shoplifting 50, violence 42, other theft 15, public order 12 |
| Peppard and Caversham | 1,437 | 121 (Aug 2026) | Violence 41, shoplifting 21, anti-social behaviour 18, criminal damage 12 |
| Mapledurham and Thames | 318 | 30 (Aug 2026) | Violence 7, anti-social behaviour 6, vehicle crime 5, criminal damage 3 |
Source: police.uk neighbourhood pages, September 2025 to August 2026; *Minster and Katesgrove August 2025 to July 2026, because its latest month is one behind. These are counts for team areas of different sizes, not rates. Abbey and Battle holds 36 per cent of the 20,438 incidents across the eight teams; its published priorities include drug dealing around Battle Square (issued 20 August 2026) and anti-social use of e-bikes and pedal cycles in the no-cycle zone on Broad Street (25 September 2026). Redlands and Park’s August figure (124, against 224 in July) looks unusually low and may be revised. Caversham, north of the river, and Mapledurham and Thames record the least.
Is Reading busier for crime in summer?
Yes, in the neighbourhood data. Across the seven teams with data to August 2026, recorded incidents were lowest in February 2026 (1,288) and highest in July 2026 (1,676), 30 per cent higher. Every month from March to August was above every month from September to February. In Abbey and Battle the six months from March to August held 4,071 incidents against 3,387 in the six months before, a rise of 20 per cent, with August 2026 (746) the busiest month of the year. More people in the town centre on long evenings, and the August festival weekend, mean more recorded incidents, not necessarily a higher risk for any one person.
Is Reading town centre safe at night?
Reading town centre is busy at night, and it is where most of the town’s recorded crime happens: Abbey and Battle, the town-centre team, recorded 7,458 incidents in the 12 months to August 2026, 36 per cent of the total for Reading’s eight police teams. Police street-level data carries no time of day, so it cannot say how much of that happens after dark. What it shows is that violence, shoplifting, other theft and public order are the largest categories in Abbey and Battle, the town-centre team, and that the team is working on drug dealing and anti-social cycling in the centre. Theft from the person and robbery are about twice the county rate, so keep phones and bags out of reach in crowds, at the station and on Broad Street. Stay on lit, busy routes between the station, the shopping centres and the riverside, plan your way home before a night out, and use licensed taxis. Check the streets you will use in the postcode checker.
One gap matters at Reading station. British Transport Police, which records crime on the railway, provided no crime data to data.police.uk for any month from March 2025 to August 2026, so incidents inside Reading station are missing from every recent count on this page and from the official map. Thames Valley Police’s own data has no gaps in that period. See police crime map UK for which months and forces are missing.
Is Reading a safe place to live?
For most residents, yes, with the usual caveats about averages. Burglary is 3.8 per cent of recorded crime (688 offences in a year) and close to the national rate (index 0.95), and vehicle crime is at the county average. Bicycle theft is the household crime most worth planning for: 436 a year, so use a good lock and store bikes indoors. Census 2021 counted 174,200 residents in Reading borough, but CrimeRate uses a larger population base that includes people who work and shop in the town, so we do not quote its rate per resident. As a rough guide only, the eight police.uk teams together recorded 20,438 incidents including anti-social behaviour, about 117 per 1,000 residents; team boundaries and periods do not match the borough exactly. The suburbs around the town, such as Earley, Woodley, Wokingham and Shinfield, record well under Reading’s rate. Compare two postcodes before you choose, and read how to check crime in your area for the limits of any single number. This page describes what was recorded, not the people who live here.
How do I check a specific street or postcode in Reading?
- Enter your postcode in the postcode checker to see 12 months of police-recorded crime and the trend by month.
- Add a second postcode, for example one in Caversham or Earley, to compare two areas side by side.
- Zoom into the UK crime map to see what was recorded near a street.
These figures describe areas, not addresses. Police data covers reported crime only, and each crime is shown at a nearby anonymised point. Read where our crime data comes from for the limits. Rates from different websites are not directly comparable; the town and city rates on this page all come from one source.
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Reading crime FAQ
What is the crime rate in Reading?
Reading recorded 78.39 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026 (18,086 offences), against 56.14 for Berkshire and around 68 for England (CrimeRate). Anti-social behaviour, 2,008 reports, is not included.
Is Reading safe?
Broadly, yes. Its crime rate is about 15 per cent above the England average and 40 per cent above Berkshire, but below every large English city we compare and level with Cardiff. Shoplifting, theft from the person and bicycle theft are the categories most above the county rate.
Is Reading safe at night?
Mostly, with the usual town-centre care. Police data has no time of day, but Abbey and Battle, the town-centre team, recorded 7,458 incidents in the 12 months to August 2026, 36 per cent of Reading’s total, led by violence, shoplifting and theft. Crimes inside Reading station are missing from the data for March 2025 to August 2026.
Is Reading safer than Slough?
On the recorded figures they are almost level: Slough 78.72 per 1,000 and Reading 78.39 in the 12 months to April 2026. Reading records more crime in total (18,086 against 13,721) because it is a bigger town.
Is crime in Reading going up?
Slightly, in the latest year. Recorded crime rose from 17,344 to 18,086 offences between the 12 months to April 2025 and the 12 months to April 2026, up 4.3 per cent, after two years of falls. It is still below the 19,817 recorded in 2023.
Where does this data come from?
Police-recorded crime published on data.police.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0, analysed by CrimeRate for counts and rates, and police.uk neighbourhood pages for local counts. See where our crime data comes from.
Other towns and cities: Slough, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Watford, Luton, Southampton, Brighton, Cambridge, Oxford and London. In an emergency call 999.