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C+Safety Grade
Safety in Metropolitan Lisburn · police.uk, 2023–2026

Metropolitan Lisburn records anti-social behaviour at 2 times the rate of a typical town its size

Violent crime was down 11% in a year. The overall Safety Grade is C+, which means close to the middle of UK towns, judged on crimes the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded inside its settlement from September 2023 to August 2026. Measured against the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, 71% of them record more crime per resident. Per 1,000 residents a year, 24.8 violent and sexual offences and 11.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded.

Violent crime
24.8
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
11.3
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
4.9
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
23.1
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded

Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Metropolitan Lisburn

Violent crime fell over the year

In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Metropolitan Lisburn than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 9% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓

Less crime than many places its size

Of 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Metropolitan Lisburn has the 40th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Stanford-le-Hope, Wickersley and Bramley and Bushey, higher than Tadworth and Epsom Downs, Felixstowe and Portishead. Towns its size ↓

Neighbourhood ranks

42% of Metropolitan Lisburn’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of Northern Ireland (NIMDM 2017, crime and disorder), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Metropolitan Lisburn’s grade

Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 71% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Violent and sexual offences (24.8 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 44% of UK towns
Homes and vehicles (11.3 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 37% of UK towns
C+C+

A firm grade. Built on 3,540 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Metropolitan Lisburn against every UK town of 1,000 or more.

Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.

By type

What police recorded in the last 12 months

Anti-social behaviour25
Violence & sexual offences22.4
Criminal damage & arson7.2
Other theft3.6
Drugs3.3
Other crime2.2
Burglary2.1
Vehicle crime1.7
Shoplifting1.2
Public order0.7
Possession of weapons0.7
Robbery0.3
Bicycle theft0.1
Theft from the person0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size

Against the typical town its size, Metropolitan Lisburn runs highest on anti-social behaviour (25 per 1,000 against 12.4), drugs (3.3 per 1,000 against 1.9) and other crime (2.2 per 1,000 against 1.8). Vehicle crime and shoplifting sit below it.

Show as a table
CategoryIn the gradeReportsPer 1,000Typical
Anti-social behaviournot graded8152512.4
Violence & sexual offencesViolent73222.430.4
Criminal damage & arsonHome & vehicle2357.26.2
Other theftnot graded1193.64.4
Drugsnot graded1093.31.9
Other crimenot graded732.21.8
BurglaryHome & vehicle692.12.4
Vehicle crimeHome & vehicle541.72.8
Shopliftingnot graded401.26.1
Public ordernot graded240.75.4
Possession of weaponsViolent240.70.7
RobberyViolent100.30.5
Bicycle theftnot graded20.10.3
Theft from the personnot graded100.3

“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.

September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.

Neighbourhoods · Northern Ireland-wide rank

42% of Metropolitan Lisburn residents live in one of Northern Ireland’s highest-crime neighbourhoods

18%1
23%2
5%3
5%4
38%5
10%6
0%7
0%8
0%9
0%10
Higher crimeLower crime

0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods, and 42% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime and disorder domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and deliberate fires where people live, on 2014–15 figures (NISRA’s latest edition), so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.

Metropolitan Lisburn’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (Super Output Area, about 2,000 people) in the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (crime and disorder domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.

Towns its size

Metropolitan Lisburn is 40th of 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000

#TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesShops & theftSafety
1Heswall Merseyside29,08214.35.53.8A−
…
37Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey27,09522.913.15.7C+
38Felixstowe Suffolk24,21828.17.910.3C+
39Portishead Somerset26,35127.98.311.3C+
40Metropolitan Lisburn Belfast32,64324.811.34.9C+
41Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire42,73623.413.112.2C+
42Penarth South Glamorgan28,39123.712.910.7C+
43Arnold Nottinghamshire40,01626.610.112.2C+
…
196Great Yarmouth Norfolk28,97910532.933.7D−

Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.

Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Metropolitan Lisburn, and others in Belfast.

Trend · monthly

How crime in Metropolitan Lisburn has moved

“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data; England and Wales towns only).

Rolling six-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -9% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +9% (towns its size -4%).

Where in Metropolitan Lisburn

Lowest recorded crime in Derryaghy, Stewartstown and Dunmurry; highest in Twinbrook

By ward per 1,000 a year
WardResidentsViolentHomes & vehicles
Derryaghy2,16417.612.8
Stewartstown1,08920.211.3
Dunmurry4,97021.111.3
Lagmore7,24323.49.2
Lambeg2,46425.713.5
Ladybrook6212914.5
Poleglass5,7883311.9
Twinbrook5,11939.818.7
ViolentHomes & vehicles

A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Twinbrook records 1.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Metropolitan Lisburn.

Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Metropolitan Lisburn’s settlement), September 2023 to August 2026.

1,000 residents · one year

Crime in Metropolitan Lisburn per 1,000 residents

Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Shoplifting & theft (not graded)
766
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
358
homes & vehicles
162
shoplifting & theft
39
of the three, per 1,000

A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.

And about 11 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.

On the roads

One person died in collisions on Metropolitan Lisburn’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 303 collisions with injuries inside Metropolitan Lisburn in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 46 people were killed or seriously injured: 19 on foot and 4 on a bicycle.

That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Metropolitan Lisburn’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Metropolitan Lisburn’s own rate (0.6) is context, not a ranking.

Counting serious injuries too, Metropolitan Lisburn had 28.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 41% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.

1
people killed, 2021–2025
46
killed or seriously injured
19
of them on foot
4
of them on a bicycle

Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured is as the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded it: the Department for Transport’s adjustment, which evens out different ways of recording injuries, covers Great Britain’s forces only, and the towns its size are Great Britain’s. There’s no national rate here: more than three quarters of Northern Ireland’s road deaths (77%) happen outside every town’s settlement boundary. Source: PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions, 2021–2025.

Collisions police recorded inside Metropolitan Lisburn’s settlement, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Metropolitan Lisburn

ABCD
TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesSafety
Metropolitan Lisburn32,64324.811.3C+
Lisburn51,44722.99.6B−
Belfast293,29845.119D
Carryduff7,17311.55.1A
Hillsborough and Culcavy3,7546.93A+
Metropolitan Castlereagh58,76314.86.6A−
Metropolitan Newtownabbey67,59921.39B
Crumlin5,36619.17.8B

Metropolitan Lisburn records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Belfast records more. Lisburn, 3 miles away, records 22.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Metropolitan Lisburn’s 24.8.

Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
  • Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Metropolitan Lisburn sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
  • Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the settlement can fall either side of it.

Questions about safety in Metropolitan Lisburn

Is Metropolitan Lisburn safe?

Police recorded 24.8 violent and sexual offences and 11.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Metropolitan Lisburn’s settlement). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 43% of UK towns. Among 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Metropolitan Lisburn is 40th from the least crime.

What are the safest areas of Metropolitan Lisburn?

By council ward, Derryaghy, Stewartstown and Dunmurry record the least violent and household crime per resident: 17.6, 20.2 and 21.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 39.8 in Twinbrook.

Is crime going up in Metropolitan Lisburn?

In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 9%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 9%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.

What is the most common crime in Metropolitan Lisburn?

Violence & sexual offences: 732 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (235) and other theft (119), with 815 reports of anti-social behaviour.

How does Metropolitan Lisburn compare with Belfast?

Belfast records 45.1 violent and sexual offences and 19 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Metropolitan Lisburn’s 24.8 and 11.3, over the same three years.

Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime (Police Service of Northern Ireland), 36 months to August 2026, points inside the settlement boundary · NISRA Census 2021, data zones best-fitted to the NISRA Settlement Development Limits 2015 (settlement totals from NISRA where it publishes them) · OSNI ward boundaries (the 2014 wards), residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area · NISRA Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017, crime and disorder domain by Super Output Area (residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area) · PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions 2021–2025 (Open Data NI), points inside the settlement boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.