Wolverhampton recorded 26,142 crimes in the 12 months to April 2026, a crime rate of 87.06 per 1,000 people: about 28 per cent above the England rate of 67.79, slightly below the West Midlands rate of about 90, and about 17 per cent below Birmingham. The total fell 7.9 per cent on the previous year (28,394). Violence and sexual offences make up 46 per cent of it, shoplifting 13 per cent, while robbery and pickpocketing are rare. 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 (West Midlands Police, Wolverhampton); neighbourhood counts from police.uk, 12 months to August 2026 (two teams to July 2026); resident population from the ONS Census 2021 (263,700). Shares and ratios are our own arithmetic on those figures. Updated 29 October 2026: data.police.uk still runs to August 2026, so the neighbourhood periods are the latest; CrimeRate’s Wolverhampton page could not be re-read today, so its figures are as checked on 20 October 2026 (same 12-months-to-April-2026 release).
What is the crime rate in Wolverhampton?
87.06 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026, according to CrimeRate. That is 26,142 offences, not counting 1,505 anti-social behaviour reports. The rate is about 28 per cent above England (67.79) and about 3 per cent below the West Midlands average of roughly 90 per 1,000. A year earlier the city recorded 28,394 offences at 95.04 per 1,000, so both the count and the rate fell by around 8 per cent.
Is Wolverhampton safe compared with other cities?
It sits in the middle of the big-city table. Wolverhampton’s 87.06 is lower than Birmingham, Liverpool and Leicester, and a little higher than Sheffield, Newcastle, Coventry and Cardiff. Every rate below comes from the same source, so they share one method and population base.
| City | Per 1,000, 12 months to April 2026 | Compared with Wolverhampton |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster (London) | 125.00 | 44% higher |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 22% higher |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 21% higher |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 12% higher |
| Wolverhampton | 87.06 | – |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 3% lower |
| Newcastle | 82.69 | 5% lower |
| Coventry | 81.45 | 6% lower |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 9% lower |
| England | 67.79 | 22% lower |
The comparison with Birmingham matters most, because both cities are policed by West Midlands Police and are often lumped together. Birmingham records about a fifth more crime per head, and its mix is different: CrimeRate puts Birmingham’s robbery at 2.42 times the national average, while Wolverhampton’s robbery index is 0.91, slightly below average. For the detail on Birmingham read is Birmingham safe?, and for the other cities in the table, is Liverpool safe? and is Cardiff safe?.
What is the crime rate in Wolverhampton per resident?
About 99 crimes per 1,000 residents. CrimeRate’s 87.06 uses its own population base, which counts more people than live in the city. Against the 263,700 residents counted in Wolverhampton in the ONS Census 2021, the same 26,142 offences work out at roughly 99 per 1,000. Adding the 1,505 anti-social behaviour reports gives 27,647 incidents, about 105 per 1,000 residents. The first rate is the fairer one for comparing cities; the second shows the load on Wolverhampton itself. Neither tells you the risk on a particular street.
What kind of crime is recorded in Wolverhampton?
Violence and sexual offences dominate, with 12,019 offences, 46.0 per cent of the total. The 13 categories below add up to exactly 26,142; the 1,505 anti-social behaviour reports come on top. The index is CrimeRate’s comparison with the national rate (1.00 = average).
| Category | Wolverhampton, 12 months to April 2026 | Per 1,000 | Share of total | Index vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 12,019 | 40.05 | 46.0% | 1.32 |
| Shoplifting | 3,359 | 11.20 | 12.8% | 1.57 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 2,210 | 7.35 | 8.5% | 1.17 |
| Vehicle crime | 2,112 | 7.03 | 8.1% | 1.63 |
| Other theft | 1,659 | 5.50 | 6.3% | 0.97 |
| Public order | 1,394 | 4.63 | 5.3% | 0.80 |
| Burglary | 899 | 3.00 | 3.4% | 0.96 |
| Drugs | 695 | 2.32 | 2.7% | 0.75 |
| Other crime | 563 | 1.89 | 2.2% | 1.02 |
| Possession of weapons | 506 | 1.68 | 1.9% | 1.98 |
| Robbery | 323 | 1.07 | 1.2% | 0.91 |
| Theft from the person | 217 | 0.72 | 0.8% | 0.46 |
| Bicycle theft | 186 | 0.62 | 0.7% | 0.85 |
Four things stand out. First, the high overall rate is mostly one category. Violence and sexual offences run at 40.05 per 1,000, against 28.37 in Cardiff, and on their own account for nearly half of all recorded crime. The category is broad: it includes harassment, stalking, domestic incidents and assaults without injury, much of it between people who know each other. Second, three categories sit well above the national average: possession of weapons (1.98), vehicle crime (1.63) and shoplifting (1.57). Weapons offences are often found through police stop and search, so the figure reflects police activity as well as carrying. Third, street theft is low. There were 217 thefts from the person and 323 robberies in a year, both below the national rate, which is unusual for a city centre. Fourth, anti-social behaviour is recorded at only 5.02 per 1,000 (index 0.36), less than half Cardiff’s 11.12; West Midlands Police recorded similarly low anti-social behaviour in Birmingham, so this is likely to reflect how the force records it as much as behaviour on the street.
Is crime in Wolverhampton going up or down?
Down over the year to April 2026. CrimeRate records 28,394 offences (95.04 per 1,000) in the 12 months to April 2025 and 26,142 (87.06) in the 12 months to April 2026: 2,252 fewer, a fall of 7.9 per cent in the count. That is a bigger drop than Birmingham’s 0.8 per cent over the same period. The more recent neighbourhood figures below, which run to August 2026, show monthly totals rising again over the spring and summer, so the next annual release may show a smaller fall. CrimeRate describes Wolverhampton’s crime risk score as about 15 per cent lower than five years ago but about 13 per cent higher than ten years ago.
Which parts of Wolverhampton record the most crime?
West Midlands Police splits Wolverhampton into seven neighbourhood teams, and police.uk publishes 12-month counts for each, including anti-social behaviour. Bilston and East Park records the most; the city centre team, which covers a small area, records the least.
| Neighbourhood (police.uk) | Incidents in 12 months | Latest month | Top categories in latest month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilston and East Park | 5,137 | Aug 2026: 507 | Violence 185, shoplifting 86, criminal damage 47 |
| Wednesfield and Heath Town | 4,798 | Aug 2026: 477 | Violence 181, shoplifting 73, vehicle crime 53 |
| Ettingshall, Blakenhall and Spring Vale | 3,990 | Aug 2026: 336 | Violence 169, vehicle crime 41, criminal damage 36 |
| St Peter’s, Park and Graiseley (to July 2026) | 3,889 | Jul 2026: 371 | Violence 181, vehicle crime 31, criminal damage 30 |
| Tettenhall, Penn, Merry Hill and Oxley (to July 2026) | 3,791 | Jul 2026: 350 | Violence 160, shoplifting 36, criminal damage 30 |
| Fallings Park, Bushbury and Low Hill | 3,662 | Aug 2026: 301 | Violence 135, criminal damage 34, shoplifting 30 |
| Wolverhampton City Centre | 2,595 | Aug 2026: 260 | Violence 102, public order 26, shoplifting 22 |
Source: police.uk neighbourhood pages, September 2025 to August 2026 (St Peter’s, Park and Graiseley and Tettenhall, Penn, Merry Hill and Oxley August 2025 to July 2026, the latest month their pages show). These are counts for team areas of very different sizes and populations, not rates, so a large team area will record more simply because more people live and shop in it. Tettenhall and Penn, for example, cover a big stretch of the western suburbs. Shoplifting is the second category in Bilston and Wednesfield, which both have busy high streets and retail parks. The city centre team’s priorities, listed on its police.uk page, are anti-social behaviour, public place violence in the night-time economy and repeat shop theft.
Is Wolverhampton busier for crime in summer?
Yes, in the neighbourhood data. Across the five teams with figures to August 2026, recorded incidents fell to 1,435 in December 2025 and rose to 1,970 in July 2026, 37 per cent higher. June to August held 28 per cent of the year’s incidents, and the six months from March to August recorded 12 per cent more than the six months before. Longer evenings, events and more people out mean more recorded incidents, not necessarily a higher risk for any one person.
Is Wolverhampton safe at night?
Mostly, yes, if you take normal care. Police data has no time of day, so it cannot separate night from day. The city centre team recorded 2,595 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents from September 2025 to August 2026, with violence 102 of 260 in August 2026. Across five city teams, incidents rose from 1,435 in December 2025 to 1,970 in July 2026.
In the city centre, violence is the largest category, followed by public order, and the local team has dedicated night-time economy officers. Keep to lit, busy routes such as the main shopping streets and around the bus and railway stations, plan your way home before you go out, and use licensed taxis. Theft from the person is rare in Wolverhampton, so the bigger everyday risks are vehicle crime and shoplifting rather than street robbery. Check the streets you will use in the postcode checker.
One gap matters for late journeys. Crime inside Wolverhampton railway station is recorded by British Transport Police, not West Midlands Police, and British Transport Police provided no crime data to data.police.uk for any month from September 2025 to August 2026, according to the data.police.uk changelog (checked 29 October 2026). Incidents on station premises are therefore missing from the recent counts above and from the official map; our guide to the police crime map explains which data is missing and why.
Is Wolverhampton a safe place to live?
For most residents, yes, with the usual caveats about averages. Burglary is 3.4 per cent of recorded crime (899 offences, close to the national rate), so the risk most households face at home is modest. Vehicle crime is the one to plan around: at 7.03 per 1,000 it is 63 per cent above the national rate, so off-street or well-lit parking and a visible steering lock are worth it. The citywide numbers also hide large differences between streets. 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 Wolverhampton?
- 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 Tettenhall or Wednesfield, 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.
Want this on the walk itself?
Safety App UK puts a live safety map built from official crime data on your phone, with routes that avoid high-risk areas and one-tap SOS to your trusted circle. Start with a 7-day free trial (for accounts that have not used one before; a payment method is needed), then £2.99 a month or £29.99 a year. Cancel any time in Google Play.
Get the app — free for 7 days Check a Wolverhampton postcode
Wolverhampton crime FAQ
What is the crime rate in Wolverhampton?
Wolverhampton recorded 87.06 crimes per 1,000 people in the 12 months to April 2026 (26,142 offences), against 67.79 for England (CrimeRate). Anti-social behaviour is not included. Per resident, using the Census 2021 population of 263,700, it is about 99 per 1,000.
Is Wolverhampton safer than Birmingham?
On the recorded figures, yes. Wolverhampton’s 87.06 per 1,000 is about 17 per cent below Birmingham’s 105.05, and its robbery rate is below the national average while Birmingham’s is more than twice it.
Is Wolverhampton safe at night?
Mostly, yes, with normal care. Police data has no time of day, but the Wolverhampton City Centre team recorded 2,595 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents from September 2025 to August 2026, the fewest of the city’s seven teams, with violence the largest category. Incidents inside the railway station are not in recent police.uk counts.
Is crime in Wolverhampton going up?
Not over the latest year. Recorded crime fell from 28,394 to 26,142 offences between the 12 months to April 2025 and the 12 months to April 2026, a drop of 7.9 per cent. Neighbourhood figures rose again over summer 2026.
What is the most common crime in Wolverhampton?
Violence and sexual offences, 46 per cent of recorded crime, followed by shoplifting (12.8 per cent), criminal damage and arson (8.5 per cent) and vehicle crime (8.1 per cent). Theft from the person is rare, at 217 offences a year.
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 residents. See where our crime data comes from.
More on the West Midlands: is Birmingham safe?, most dangerous areas in Birmingham, safest areas in Birmingham and is Coventry safe?. Other cities: Nottingham, Leeds, Luton, Liverpool, Cardiff and London. In an emergency call 999.