Sheffield recorded 50,695 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026, a crime rate of 84.05 per 1,000 people: about 3.4 per cent below South Yorkshire (87.00), 1.4 per cent below Yorkshire and The Humber (85.27) and 24 per cent above England (67.79), and lower than every big English city in the same comparison except Newcastle and Coventry. The total fell 3.7 per cent on the previous year (52,632), the third fall in a row since the 2023 peak. Burglary, vehicle crime and weapons possession run above the national rate, while pickpocketing and snatch theft are well below it. The figures describe recorded incidents, not the people who live in the city.
Data: police-recorded crime, 12 months to April 2026, counts and rates from CrimeRate’s analysis of data.police.uk (South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield; updated 7 June 2026); neighbourhood counts from police.uk, latest 12 months shown on each page (to August or June 2026); population from the ONS Census 2021. Shares and ratios are our own arithmetic on those figures. Updated 12 October 2026.
Is Sheffield safe?
For most residents and visitors, yes. Sheffield’s 84.05 crimes per 1,000 people is above the national average, but below the South Yorkshire average and well below Leeds, Bradford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol and Nottingham. Recorded crime has fallen for three years running. Sheffield’s above-average categories are mostly household and street crimes such as burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage, rather than the theft from the person that visitors tend to worry about, which runs at about half the national rate.
What is the crime rate in Sheffield?
84.05 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026, according to CrimeRate. That is 50,695 offences, not counting 10,194 anti-social behaviour reports (60,889 incidents with them). The rate is about 3.4 per cent below South Yorkshire (87.00), 1.4 per cent below Yorkshire and The Humber (85.27) and 24 per cent above England (67.79). A year earlier Sheffield recorded 52,632 offences at 88.60 per 1,000.
The ONS Census 2021 counted about 556,500 residents in Sheffield, up 0.7 per cent since 2011. CrimeRate uses its own population base, which is larger than that, so we quote its rate as published and do not divide the count by the Census figure. As in any regional centre with two universities and a large shopping and nightlife core, per-head figures are pushed up by people who come into the city but live elsewhere.
How does Sheffield compare with other cities?
All rates below come from the same source and method, so they can be compared with each other.
| Place | Per 1,000, 12 months to April 2026 | Compared with Sheffield |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster (London) | 125.00 | 49% higher |
| Bradford | 121.67 | 45% higher |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 28% higher |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 27% higher |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 27% higher |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 25% higher |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 24% higher |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 16% higher |
| Brighton and Hove | 89.82 | 7% higher |
| Sheffield | 84.05 | – |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.70 | 2% lower |
| Coventry | 81.45 | 3% lower |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 5% lower |
| England | 67.79 | 19% lower |
Sheffield sits in the lower group of big cities with Newcastle, Coventry and Cardiff. Its nearest large neighbour in Yorkshire, Leeds, records 27 per cent more crime per head. For the same breakdown elsewhere see is Leeds safe?, is Nottingham safe?, is Newcastle safe? and is Cardiff safe?
How does Sheffield compare with the rest of South Yorkshire?
Sheffield records 37 per cent of the county’s crime (50,695 of 137,795 offences, the county total also excluding anti-social behaviour), but its rate is below the county average. The other three big towns, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley, all record more crime per head, and so do several former mining towns. CrimeRate lists 35 places in South Yorkshire; Sheffield is 17th by rate, almost exactly in the middle.
| South Yorkshire place | Crimes, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Doncaster | 19,883 | 132.30 |
| Bentley | 1,729 | 131.13 |
| Rawmarsh | 2,347 | 122.04 |
| Mexborough | 1,946 | 116.88 |
| Rotherham | 15,513 | 101.25 |
| Barnsley | 20,955 | 90.32 |
| Sheffield | 50,695 | 84.05 |
| Stocksbridge | 882 | 63.29 |
| Ecclesfield | 1,783 | 50.39 |
| Penistone | 549 | 40.22 |
| Bradfield (lowest listed) | 717 | 39.78 |
Source: CrimeRate’s South Yorkshire page; each place has its own boundary; anti-social behaviour not included. Stocksbridge, Ecclesfield and Bradfield are on the northern and north-western edges of the city and are listed separately from the city. The county as a whole recorded 137,795 offences (87.00 per 1,000), down 3.0 per cent from 142,062 the year before.
What kind of crime is recorded in Sheffield?
Violence and sexual offences are the largest category, with 20,018 offences, 39.5 per cent of the total, slightly above the national rate (index 1.09). Shoplifting is second with 5,652 offences (11.1 per cent), then criminal damage and arson (9.6 per cent). The 13 categories below add up to exactly 50,695; anti-social behaviour (10,194 reports, 16.92 per 1,000, index 1.20) comes on top. The index is CrimeRate’s comparison with the national rate (1.00 = average).
| Category | Sheffield, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 | Share of total | Index vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 20,018 | 33.19 | 39.5% | 1.09 |
| Shoplifting | 5,652 | 9.38 | 11.1% | 1.32 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 4,843 | 8.03 | 9.6% | 1.28 |
| Public order | 4,533 | 7.50 | 8.9% | 1.29 |
| Vehicle crime | 3,572 | 5.94 | 7.0% | 1.38 |
| Other theft | 3,112 | 5.15 | 6.1% | 0.91 |
| Burglary | 2,617 | 4.33 | 5.2% | 1.38 |
| Drugs | 2,257 | 3.75 | 4.5% | 1.21 |
| Other crime | 1,612 | 2.67 | 3.2% | 1.44 |
| Robbery | 794 | 1.32 | 1.6% | 1.12 |
| Possession of weapons | 766 | 1.27 | 1.5% | 1.49 |
| Theft from the person | 525 | 0.87 | 1.0% | 0.56 |
| Bicycle theft | 394 | 0.65 | 0.8% | 0.89 |
Three things stand out. First, Sheffield’s profile is residential rather than city-centre: burglary and vehicle crime both run at 1.38 times the national rate, criminal damage at 1.28, while the classic crimes of crowded centres are low: theft from the person at 0.56, other theft at 0.91 and bicycle theft at 0.89. Second, violence is only a little above the national rate (1.09), much closer to average than in Bradford or Birmingham. Third, weapons possession (1.49) and drug offences (1.21) are offences police record when they look for them, so they partly reflect police activity. For residents, that points to home and car security as the practical priorities.
Is crime in Sheffield going up or down?
Down. CrimeRate records 52,632 offences (88.60 per 1,000) in the 12 months to April 2025 and 50,695 (84.05) in the 12 months to April 2026: 1,937 fewer, a fall of 3.7 per cent, a little more than South Yorkshire as a whole (3.0 per cent). It is the third fall in a row: the latest figure is 9.2 per cent below the 2023 peak of 55,817.
| Year (12 months to April) | Crimes | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 42,813 | 75.51 |
| 2018 | 49,324 | 87.19 |
| 2019 | 49,375 | 87.26 |
| 2020 | 51,030 | 90.38 |
| 2021 | 45,863 | 81.20 |
| 2022 | 52,368 | 92.41 |
| 2023 | 55,817 | 96.71 |
| 2024 | 53,906 | 92.07 |
| 2025 | 52,632 | 88.60 |
| 2026 | 50,695 | 84.05 |
The 2021 dip is the pandemic year. The latest rate is the lowest since 2017 apart from that year.
Which parts of Sheffield record the most crime?
South Yorkshire Police splits Sheffield into five large neighbourhood areas, and police.uk publishes 12-month counts for each, including anti-social behaviour. Unlike many cities, the city centre is not the area with the most incidents: it is a small area, while the four outer districts each cover a large part of the city.
| Area (police.uk) | Incidents in 12 months | Period | Top categories in latest month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield South East | 20,146 | Sep 2025–Aug 2026 | Violence 577, ASB 326, shoplifting 237, criminal damage 138 |
| Sheffield North East | 16,574 | Sep 2025–Aug 2026 | Violence 553, ASB 267, criminal damage 147, public order 99 |
| Sheffield South West | 10,286 | Jul 2025–Jun 2026 | Violence 315, ASB 134, criminal damage 66, shoplifting 65 |
| Sheffield North West | 9,839 | Sep 2025–Aug 2026 | Violence 290, ASB 162, shoplifting 127, public order 68 |
| Sheffield City Centre | 9,024 | Sep 2025–Aug 2026 | Violence 235, shoplifting 140, ASB 120, public order 79 |
Source: police.uk neighbourhood pages, accessed 12 October 2026. These are counts for areas of very different sizes and populations, not rates, and South West covers different months, so the rows should not be added up or ranked as if they were equal. The city centre’s 9,024 incidents are packed into a far smaller area than any of the others, which is why it feels busier, but most of Sheffield’s recorded crime happens in the residential districts to the east, where criminal damage appears among the top categories. For street-level detail, see Sheffield crime by ward and the safest areas in Sheffield.
Does crime in Sheffield change with the seasons?
Yes, but less than in seaside cities such as Bournemouth or Brighton. Across the four areas with figures to August 2026, recorded incidents were lowest in February 2026 (4,083) and highest in August 2026 (4,981), about 22 per cent higher. The six months from March to August recorded 29,081 incidents, 9.7 per cent more than the 26,502 in the six months before. The city centre is the exception: its busiest month was October 2025 (913), when students return and nights out pick up, and its quietest was April 2026 (653).
| Month | Four areas (City Centre, North East, South East, North West) | Of which City Centre |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 4,530 | 811 |
| Oct 2025 | 4,857 | 913 |
| Nov 2025 | 4,479 | 770 |
| Dec 2025 | 4,306 | 771 |
| Jan 2026 | 4,247 | 694 |
| Feb 2026 | 4,083 | 669 |
| Mar 2026 | 4,874 | 734 |
| Apr 2026 | 4,504 | 653 |
| May 2026 | 4,891 | 728 |
| Jun 2026 | 4,895 | 697 |
| Jul 2026 | 4,936 | 748 |
| Aug 2026 | 4,981 | 836 |
Is Sheffield safe at night?
Police street-level data carries no time of day, so it cannot say how much crime happens after dark. In the city centre, violence and public order offences are among the top categories, as in any city with a large night-time economy, but theft from the person is about half the national rate and robbery only slightly above it (1.12). On a night out, stay with friends, keep to lit, busy streets on the way to the station, tram stop or a taxi rank, keep an eye on drinks, and use licensed taxis. Check the streets you will use in the postcode checker.
Is Sheffield a safe place to live?
For most residents, yes. Sheffield records less crime per head than most big English cities and less than the South Yorkshire average, and the total has fallen for three years. The categories to watch are the household ones: burglary and vehicle crime are both about 38 per cent above the national rate, so good locks, lighting and off-street parking are worth more than worrying about the headline rate. The North West police area records about half as many incidents as South East, though the areas differ in size, and edge-of-city places such as Bradfield (39.78 per 1,000) and Ecclesfield (50.39) are among the lowest in the county. 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 Sheffield?
- 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 Crookes or Ecclesall, 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 use different population estimates and are not directly comparable, so the city rates on this page all come from one source.
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Sheffield crime FAQ
What is the crime rate in Sheffield?
Sheffield recorded 84.05 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026 (50,695 offences), against 87.00 for South Yorkshire, 85.27 for Yorkshire and The Humber and 67.79 for England (CrimeRate). Anti-social behaviour is not included.
Is Sheffield safer than Leeds?
Per head, yes. Leeds records 107.10 crimes per 1,000, about 27 per cent more than Sheffield’s 84.05, on the same source and method for the 12 months to April 2026.
Is Sheffield more dangerous than Rotherham or Doncaster?
No. Per head, Sheffield (84.05 per 1,000) records less crime than Rotherham (101.25), Barnsley (90.32) and Doncaster (132.30). It records more crime in total only because it is much larger.
Is crime in Sheffield going up?
No. Recorded crime fell from 52,632 to 50,695 offences between the 12 months to April 2025 and the 12 months to April 2026, a drop of 3.7 per cent, and is 9.2 per cent below the 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 the population. See where our crime data comes from.
More on Sheffield: crime in Sheffield, Sheffield crime by ward and safest areas in Sheffield. Other cities: Leeds, Bradford, York, Newcastle and Nottingham. In an emergency call 999.