What does the crime data say about this postcode?
Enter any UK postcode to see what has actually been reported to the police there over the last 12 months. Search a second postcode to compare two areas side by side.
- Counts cover roughly a one-mile radius around the postcode — not the street itself. Police data deliberately snaps each crime to one of 751,000+ anchor points, each covering at least eight addresses, so no UK crime map can point at a specific property.
- “Violence and sexual offences” is shown here as one combined figure. The police API deliberately does not split sexual offences out separately at this level — keeping the two merged is what stops a victim’s location from being identifiable on any public map.
- A busy city centre will always show higher counts than a village. Comparing two postcodes of a similar type tells you far more than any single number.
- Only reported crime appears here. A great deal is never reported, and never shows up on any map.
- The police feed updates monthly, so the most recent weeks are never included.
- These are counts of what was reported, not a prediction and not a judgement about an area or the people who live in it.
Read how this data works, in full →
Data: street-level police data from data.police.uk, latest month August 2026 · Updated 3 October 2026
How do I check the crime rate by postcode?
To check crime by postcode, type a full UK postcode into the box above and press “Check this postcode”. The tool looks up the postcode, then pulls every crime and anti-social behaviour report that police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland published within about one mile of it over the last 12 months (up to August 2026), split by month and by category.
- Latest month in the police feed: August 2026, so the newest data is roughly five weeks old.
- Search area: a 1-mile radius around the postcode — about 3.1 square miles (8.1 km²), not a single street.
- England as a whole: 67.79 crimes per 1,000 people; London: 82.39 (CrimeRate, 12 months to April 2026, anti-social behaviour excluded).
- England and Wales: police recorded around 5.2 million crimes in the year to March 2026, down 1% (ONS, excluding fraud and computer misuse).
How do I see the crime rate in my area, step by step?
- Enter your full postcode (for example SW1A 1AA). A partial postcode such as “SW1A” is too vague and will be rejected.
- Read the headline number. It is the total of crimes and anti-social behaviour reports within about a mile over 12 months, with a monthly average.
- Check the trend label. It compares the latest six months with the six before; changes of 4% or less either way are shown as “broadly flat”.
- Look at the month-by-month bars for spikes, such as summer events or the run-up to Christmas in shopping streets.
- Open the category groups: property (burglary, vehicle crime), street safety (violence, robbery, theft from the person), street environment (anti-social behaviour, public order, drugs) and everything else.
- Search a second postcode to see two areas side by side. This is the fairest way to judge a number.
Why is the postcode result a count, not a rate per 1,000?
The postcode check shows a count because the police feed gives no population for a one-mile circle. A circle around a city-centre postcode may hold far more shoppers, commuters and visitors than residents, so a “rate per 1,000 residents” would look misleadingly high there. Comparing counts between two similar postcodes is more honest.
If you know roughly how many people live in the circle, you can work out a rough rate yourself: divide the 12-month count by the number of residents and multiply by 1,000. As an illustration only, 1,200 reports in a circle with 15,000 residents would be 80 per 1,000. Remember to remove the anti-social behaviour line first if you want to compare with the published rates below, because those leave anti-social behaviour out.
What should I compare my postcode’s numbers with?
Compare a postcode first with another postcode of the same type (city centre with city centre, suburb with suburb), and only then with wider rates. The table lists the published benchmarks we use, their period and what they include, so you compare like with like.
| Benchmark | Figure | Period | Source | Includes ASB? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England, crimes per 1,000 people | 67.79 | 12 months to April 2026 | CrimeRate | No |
| London, crimes per 1,000 people | 82.39 (about 1.2× England) | 12 months to April 2026 | CrimeRate | No |
| England and Wales, police-recorded crime | about 5.2 million (−1%) | Year ending March 2026 | ONS | No (excludes fraud and computer misuse) |
| Your force area | shown under your result | as labelled | Police force crime rates compared | as labelled |
For London postcodes, the borough figure is usually a better yardstick than the city-wide rate: see the London crime rate by borough.
Why does a postcode in Greater Manchester show almost no crime?
A Greater Manchester postcode will show very few or no crimes because Greater Manchester Police currently publishes no crime data to data.police.uk (see our Manchester crime map guide for what to use instead) while it moves to a new IT system. That is a gap in the data, not a sign the area is crime-free. British Transport Police also sent no crime data for any month from March 2025 to August 2026 (data.police.uk changelog, checked 23 October 2026), so offences on the railway are missing for those months everywhere.
What does the postcode check not show?
- Scotland: Police Scotland does not publish street-level data to data.police.uk, so Scottish postcodes cannot be checked here.
- Exact locations: every crime is moved to the nearest anonymous map point, which covers at least eight addresses (or none), so no result can be tied to a house.
- The latest weeks: the newest month is August 2026; September will appear once forces publish it.
- Unreported crime: the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 9.6 million incidents in the year to March 2026, well above the number police recorded.
- Fraud and online crime: these are not mapped to streets.
For a wider view than one postcode, browse the UK crime map, or read how to check crime in your area for the three free ways to do it. The full method is on where our crime data comes from.
Safety App UK shows this police data on a live map, plans safer walking routes and sends SOS to your trusted circle. It uses official police data but is not a police service; in an emergency always call 999.
Crime by postcode: frequently asked questions
Is the postcode crime check free?
Yes. Checking a postcode on this page is free and needs no sign-up. It uses open police data from data.police.uk and the free postcodes.io lookup, and you can compare two postcodes side by side.
How up to date is crime data by postcode?
As of 3 October 2026 the newest month is August 2026. Each month’s data appears around a month or more after it ends, so the most recent weeks never appear on any UK crime map.
How far around my postcode does the check look?
About one mile in every direction from the centre of the postcode, roughly 3.1 square miles. That is why a quiet street next to a busy high street can show a high count.
Does the count include anti-social behaviour?
Yes. The headline count includes anti-social behaviour reports, which are shown in the “Street environment” group. Most published crime rates per 1,000 people leave it out, so subtract it before comparing.
Can I check crime in my area in Scotland?
Not on this page. Scotland is not covered by data.police.uk; the Scottish Government publishes its own recorded crime statistics for Scotland instead.
Want this on the walk itself, not just the postcode?