Milton Keynes has no single crime rate you can trust from the usual websites: CrimeRate’s “Milton Keynes” page (59.67 per 1,000, 616 crimes) covers only a small parish of about 10,000 people, not the city. Across the whole borough, Thames Valley Police’s 13 neighbourhood teams recorded about 30,700 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents in the latest 12 months, roughly 107 per 1,000 residents. Within that, rates vary more than in almost any town we have covered: Woughton on the Green records 170.44 crimes per 1,000 and Bletchley and Fenny Stratford 113.06, while Newport Pagnell records 43.69, below the Buckinghamshire average of 58.93. The figures describe recorded incidents, not the people who live there.
Data: police-recorded crime, 12 months to April 2026, counts and rates from CrimeRate’s analysis of data.police.uk (Thames Valley Police; updated 7 June 2026); neighbourhood counts from police.uk, 12 months to August 2026 (Middleton District and Newport Pagnell to July 2026), including anti-social behaviour; population from the ONS Census 2021 (Milton Keynes 287,000). Shares, sums and ratios are our own arithmetic on those figures. Updated 16 October 2026.
What is the crime rate in Milton Keynes?
About 107 recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 residents across the borough, on our sum of the 13 police.uk neighbourhood teams (30,671 incidents in 12 months) against the Census 2021 population of 287,000. That figure includes anti-social behaviour, so it is not directly comparable with crime-only rates such as England’s 67.79. Area by area, CrimeRate’s rates run from 170.44 per 1,000 in Woughton on the Green to 43.69 in Newport Pagnell (12 months to April 2026).
Why does CrimeRate say Milton Keynes is one of the safest cities?
Because the page it labels “Milton Keynes” is not the city. It records 616 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026 at 59.67 per 1,000, which implies a population base of only about 10,300 people. Milton Keynes as a borough had 287,000 residents at the 2021 Census. CrimeRate splits the borough into 16 parish-level areas, and the one that shares the city’s name is a small part of it, so the claim that Milton Keynes is “among the top 5 safest cities” and the comparison with Cardiff or Leeds on that page should not be used. The same page also calls Milton Keynes the “most dangerous city in Buckinghamshire”, which shows how little the labels mean. The area figures below are more useful.
Which parts of Milton Keynes have the highest crime rate?
Woughton on the Green, Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, Campbell Park and Wolverton and Greenleys are the four Milton Keynes areas above 85 per 1,000 in CrimeRate’s list. Newport Pagnell, Walton, Shenley Brook End, Stantonbury, West Bletchley and Broughton are all below the Buckinghamshire average of 58.93. The full list of the 16 Milton Keynes areas CrimeRate publishes:
| Area (CrimeRate, Milton Keynes) | Crimes, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Woughton on the Green | 2,341 | 170.44 |
| Bletchley and Fenny Stratford | 3,008 | 113.06 |
| Campbell Park | 1,557 | 93.30 |
| Wolverton and Greenleys | 1,526 | 88.51 |
| Bradwell | 817 | 79.85 |
| Kents Hill, Monkston and Brinklow | 799 | 71.86 |
| Stony Stratford | 581 | 70.48 |
| Great Linford | 1,677 | 68.07 |
| Shenley Church End | 986 | 61.86 |
| “Milton Keynes” (small parish area) | 616 | 59.67 |
| Broughton | 710 | 55.74 |
| West Bletchley | 1,346 | 55.74 |
| Stantonbury | 854 | 54.81 |
| Shenley Brook End | 1,548 | 53.63 |
| Walton | 725 | 50.73 |
| Newport Pagnell | 746 | 43.69 |
| Buckinghamshire (ceremonial county, incl. Milton Keynes) | 59,531 | 58.93 |
Source: CrimeRate Buckinghamshire, which lists 35 places in the ceremonial county; the 16 above are in Milton Keynes. They do not cover every part of the borough (Olney and Woburn Sands, for example, have no entry), so they should not be added up into a city total. Six of the eight highest rates in the whole county are Milton Keynes areas; Aylesbury (87.22) and High Wycombe (73.62) are the only other places in the top eight. Woughton on the Green’s rate is 36 per cent above Westminster’s 125.00 and nearly three times the county average, but it is a small area with a large share of violence, as the next section shows.
What kind of crime is recorded in Woughton and Bletchley?
Violence and sexual offences dominate both: 1,268 of Woughton on the Green’s 2,341 offences (54 per cent) and 1,305 of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford’s 3,008 (43 per cent). The 13 categories in each column add up exactly to the area totals; anti-social behaviour is shown separately.
| Category, 12 months to April 2026 | Woughton on the Green | Per 1,000 | Bletchley and Fenny Stratford | Per 1,000 | Buckinghamshire per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 1,268 | 92.33 | 1,305 | 49.01 | 25.77 |
| Shoplifting | 133 | 9.68 | 375 | 14.07 | 5.97 |
| Other theft | 187 | 13.60 | 271 | 10.18 | 5.37 |
| Public order | 214 | 15.59 | 266 | 10.00 | 4.89 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 199 | 14.49 | 228 | 8.56 | 4.78 |
| Vehicle crime | 92 | 6.70 | 192 | 7.21 | 4.23 |
| Drugs | 73 | 5.32 | 113 | 4.25 | 2.28 |
| Burglary | 61 | 4.44 | 95 | 3.57 | 2.21 |
| Other crime | 35 | 2.54 | 57 | 2.15 | 1.40 |
| Robbery | 31 | 2.27 | 47 | 1.79 | 0.74 |
| Theft from the person | 13 | 0.95 | 22 | 0.85 | 0.44 |
| Possession of weapons | 17 | 1.23 | 20 | 0.77 | 0.40 |
| Bicycle theft | 18 | 1.30 | 17 | 0.65 | 0.45 |
| Total (without anti-social behaviour) | 2,341 | 170.44 | 3,008 | 113.06 | 58.93 |
| Anti-social behaviour | 155 | 11.29 | 328 | 12.32 | 7.11 |
Sources: CrimeRate Woughton on the Green, Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and Buckinghamshire comparison.
The two areas have different profiles. In Woughton on the Green, violence runs at 3.6 times the county rate, and public order offences and criminal damage at about three times; the police team for Campbell Park South and Woughton names street drinking on the Netherfield estate, anti-social behaviour around Eaglestone and drug use along the redway beside H6 Childs Way as its current priorities. In Bletchley the distinctive crime is shoplifting: 375 offences, 2.4 times the county rate, in a town with a large shopping area around Queensway and the MK1 stadium retail park. Anti-social behaviour, by contrast, is low in both places relative to their crime (11 to 12 per 1,000), and in the small “Milton Keynes” parish area vehicle crime is the outlier, 93 of 616 offences.
Is crime in Milton Keynes going up or down?
It depends on the area. Bletchley and Fenny Stratford fell from 3,125 to 3,008 offences between the 12 months to April 2025 and the 12 months to April 2026 (down 3.7 per cent), and is 8 per cent below its 2022 peak of 3,259. Woughton on the Green rose from 2,280 to 2,341 (up 2.7 per cent), still below its 2023 peak of 2,457. Buckinghamshire as a whole was almost flat, 59,766 to 59,531 (down 0.4 per cent).
| Year (12 months to April) | Woughton on the Green | Per 1,000 | Bletchley and Fenny Stratford | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,936 | 141.62 | 2,674 | 113.59 |
| 2020 | 2,143 | 156.35 | 2,908 | 121.47 |
| 2021 | 2,057 | 150.62 | 2,681 | 110.61 |
| 2022 | 2,350 | 174.27 | 3,259 | 132.48 |
| 2023 | 2,457 | 181.87 | 3,244 | 128.84 |
| 2024 | 2,125 | 156.67 | 2,888 | 111.44 |
| 2025 | 2,280 | 166.68 | 3,125 | 117.94 |
| 2026 | 2,341 | 170.44 | 3,008 | 113.06 |
Which police neighbourhoods in Milton Keynes record the most crime?
Thames Valley Police covers the borough with 13 neighbourhood teams, and police.uk publishes a 12-month count for each, including anti-social behaviour. Three teams, Milton Keynes City Centre and Campbell Park, Campbell Park South and Woughton, and Central Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, account for 40 per cent of the borough’s incidents. The city centre team alone recorded 4,582, 15 per cent of the total, which is expected for the area with the shopping centre, the railway station and most of the evening economy.
| Neighbourhood (police.uk) | Incidents in 12 months | Top categories in latest month |
|---|---|---|
| Milton Keynes City Centre and Campbell Park | 4,582 | Aug 2026: violence 131, shoplifting 98, other theft 35, ASB 33 |
| Campbell Park South and Woughton | 3,935 | Aug 2026: violence 141, ASB 39, public order 28, criminal damage 22 |
| Central Bletchley and Fenny Stratford | 3,665 | Aug 2026: violence 119, ASB 45, shoplifting 34, other theft 28 |
| Stony Stratford and Wolverton | 3,384 | Aug 2026: violence 96, ASB 52, public order 22, shoplifting 22 |
| Middleton District (to July 2026) | 2,352 | Jul 2026: violence 91, ASB 22, criminal damage 21, shoplifting 20 |
| Danesborough and Walton | 1,835 | Aug 2026: violence 51, ASB 24, vehicle crime 16, criminal damage 11 |
| Bradwell and Stantonbury | 1,829 | Aug 2026: violence 68, shoplifting 32, other theft 16, ASB 14 |
| Shenley Brook End and Tattenhoe | 1,818 | Aug 2026: violence 55, ASB 26, criminal damage 16, public order 9 |
| Loughton Park | 1,777 | Aug 2026: violence 102, ASB 23, other theft 18, theft from the person 16 |
| Great Linford | 1,732 | Aug 2026: violence 57, other theft 19, ASB 12, public order 9 |
| West Bletchley | 1,587 | Aug 2026: violence 49, ASB 25, shoplifting 23, criminal damage 9 |
| Rural Milton Keynes | 1,212 | Aug 2026: violence 54, ASB 19, other theft 14, criminal damage 12 |
| Newport Pagnell (to July 2026) | 963 | Jul 2026: violence 34, ASB 30, public order 15, burglary 13 |
| All 13 teams | 30,671 | – |
Source: police.uk neighbourhood pages, September 2025 to August 2026 (Middleton District and Newport Pagnell August 2025 to July 2026, the latest month their pages show). These are counts for team areas of very different sizes, not rates. Because two teams end a month earlier, the borough total is a close approximation of a 12-month figure, not an exact one. Team boundaries do not match CrimeRate’s areas, so the two tables should not be compared row by row.
Is Milton Keynes busier for crime in summer?
Yes. Across the 11 teams that report to August 2026, recorded incidents were lowest in February 2026 (1,905) and highest in June 2026 (2,586), 36 per cent higher. March to August 2026 held 14,734 incidents against 12,622 from September 2025 to February 2026, 17 per cent more in the second half. Loughton Park had its highest month in August 2026 (219), and Newport Pagnell roughly doubled from 51 in February to 127 in July. More people out on longer evenings means more recorded incidents, not necessarily a higher risk for any one person.
Is Central Milton Keynes safe at night?
Police street-level data has no time of day, so it cannot say how much crime happens after dark. What it shows is that violence and shoplifting are the largest categories for the city centre team, and that its three published priorities (1 October 2026) are street drinking and anti-social behaviour on Silbury Boulevard around North 9th and 10th Street, rough sleeping in a Sainsbury’s car park, and anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and low-level assaults at Milton Keynes Central railway station, where an extra CCTV camera has been added. The centre’s grid of wide boulevards and car parks means walking routes can be quiet late at night; plan the route to the station or a taxi rank before you go out, keep to lit, busy streets rather than underpasses, and check the area in the postcode checker.
Is Milton Keynes a safe place to live?
For most residents, yes, and the answer depends more on the estate than the city. Eight of the 16 CrimeRate areas, from Newport Pagnell (43.69) to Shenley Church End (61.86), sit close to or below the county average, and Newport Pagnell is 26 per cent below it. Burglary is a small share of crime even in the highest-rate areas: 61 offences in Woughton on the Green and 95 in Bletchley in a year. Vehicle crime runs above the county rate in all three areas broken down above (6.70 to 8.98 per 1,000 against 4.23), so off-street or well-lit parking is worth it, and the West Bletchley and Shenley Brook End teams list e-scooter and e-bike misuse as a priority. 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 Milton Keynes?
- 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 Newport Pagnell or Shenley Brook End, 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. CrimeRate’s rates use its own population base, which counts people who work and shop in a place as well as residents, so rates from different websites, and our per-resident estimate above, are not directly comparable.
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Milton Keynes crime FAQ
What is the crime rate in Milton Keynes?
Across the borough, about 107 recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 residents (30,671 incidents in the latest 12 months on police.uk, Census 2021 population 287,000). By area, CrimeRate’s crime-only rates range from 170.44 per 1,000 in Woughton on the Green to 43.69 in Newport Pagnell.
Is Milton Keynes safe?
Mostly, with large differences between areas. Eight of its 16 CrimeRate areas are close to or below the Buckinghamshire average of 58.93 per 1,000, while Woughton on the Green and Bletchley and Fenny Stratford are well above it, mainly because of violence, public order offences and shoplifting.
Is Milton Keynes safer than High Wycombe?
It depends on the area. High Wycombe records 73.62 crimes per 1,000. Most Milton Keynes residential areas are lower, from 43.69 to 71.86, while Woughton on the Green (170.44), Bletchley and Fenny Stratford (113.06), Campbell Park (93.30), Wolverton and Greenleys (88.51) and Bradwell (79.85) are higher.
Is crime in Milton Keynes going up?
Not overall. Bletchley and Fenny Stratford fell 3.7 per cent in the latest year and Buckinghamshire was flat (down 0.4 per cent); Woughton on the Green rose 2.7 per cent but stays below its 2023 peak.
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, police.uk neighbourhood pages for local counts, and the ONS Census 2021 for population. See where our crime data comes from.
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