Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0Cambridge records bicycle theft at 7.1 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime here is higher than in 78% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 86%. Each year brought 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents. Overall, Cambridge grades C− for safety (#46 of 50 in Cambridgeshire): more crime per resident than 81% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violence rose 8% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cambridge
One ward carries much of the rate
Market ward, where 31% of Cambridge’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 3,088 of Cambridge’s 16,153 violent and sexual offences in three years: 98.5 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Cambridge the figure is 30.2. Where in Cambridge ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 8% more violent crime per resident in Cambridge than in the year before; across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 44 UK towns and cities of 107,000 to 206,000 people, Cambridge has the 10th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Basingstoke, Reading and Ipswich, higher than Warrington, Kingswood and Fishponds and Oxford. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 17% of Cambridge’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 19% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Cambridge’s C−
A firm grade. Built on 23,854 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cambridge against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Cambridge runs highest on bicycle theft (6.3 per 1,000 against 0.9), theft from the person (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and shoplifting (17.1 per 1,000 against 10.3).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 5,164 | 33.8 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 2,669 | 17.5 | 17.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2,605 | 17.1 | 10.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1,125 | 7.4 | 6.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,110 | 7.3 | 7.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,048 | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 963 | 6.3 | 0.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 711 | 4.7 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 691 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 555 | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 343 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 324 | 2.1 | 0.7 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 230 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 210 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Lowest recorded crime in Newnham, Queen Edith's and Castle; highest in Market
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newnham | 11,373 | 7.2 | 5.5 | |
| Queen Edith's | 12,246 | 21.2 | 10.3 | |
| Castle | 7,521 | 20.1 | 14 | |
| Coleridge | 10,503 | 23.5 | 10.6 | |
| Trumpington | 12,392 | 26.4 | 12.8 | |
| West Chesterton | 8,903 | 26.6 | 14.8 | |
| Romsey | 10,190 | 27 | 14.8 | |
| Cherry Hinton | 9,343 | 28.8 | 13.1 | |
| Arbury | 9,881 | 31 | 16.1 | |
| Harston & Comberton | 1,027 | 41.5 | 19.1 | |
| Petersfield | 10,939 | 41.2 | 19.9 | |
| East Chesterton | 9,715 | 40.2 | 23.2 | |
| Histon & Impington | 3,284 | 44.1 | 21.1 | |
| King's Hedges | 11,098 | 43.9 | 21.4 | |
| Abbey | 10,785 | 45.3 | 22.3 | |
| Fen Ditton & Fulbourn | 2,844 | 47 | 23.1 | |
| Market | 10,446 | 98.5 | 31.7 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 4,864 | 71% shoplifting & theft |
| College and university buildings | 1,872 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 1,728 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 1,371 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 1,043 | 46% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 714 | 45% violent |
| Police stations | 547 | 44% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 412 | 35% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 359 | 31% violent |
| Nightclubs | 298 | 40% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Market records 3.3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Cambridge. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Cambridge. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Cambridge’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Set against 44 towns its size, Cambridge is 10th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Warrington Cheshire | 174,968 | 38.8 | 10.1 | 10.8 | C− |
| 8 | Kingswood and Fishponds Gloucestershire | 160,280 | 36 | 13.4 | 15.2 | C− |
| 9 | Oxford Oxfordshire | 170,799 | 37 | 15.1 | 32.3 | C− |
| 10 | Cambridge Cambridgeshire | 152,742 | 35.3 | 16.9 | 36.6 | C− |
| 11 | Cheltenham Gloucestershire | 115,941 | 35.2 | 17.3 | 21 | C− |
| 12 | Watford Hertfordshire | 131,336 | 36.1 | 16.6 | 20.6 | C− |
| 13 | York North Yorkshire | 141,696 | 38 | 15.5 | 25.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Peterborough Cambridgeshire | 190,592 | 54.2 | 21.1 | 21.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 44 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | D− |
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 Cambridge, and others in Cambridgeshire.
Crime in Cambridge per 1,000 residents
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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 33 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Cambridge has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +8% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -9% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +0% (towns its size -2%).
1 in 6 Cambridge residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
24% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 19% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Cambridge’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 69% of Cambridge’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 23% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 8% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 8,222 crimes.
Two people died in collisions on Cambridge’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 1,203 collisions with injuries inside Cambridge in five years, in which two people died (1 was a cyclist). 313 people were killed or seriously injured: 45 on foot and 171 on a bicycle.
That is fewer than is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Cambridge’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Cambridge’s own rate (0.3) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Cambridge had 41.0 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 14% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Cambridge’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cambridge
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge | 152,742 | 35.3 | 16.9 | C− |
| Milton | 4,150 | 15.7 | 11.5 | B |
| Girton | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | A |
| Histon and Impington | 7,781 | 18.8 | 11.3 | B |
| Fulbourn | 3,737 | 19.1 | 11 | B |
| Great Shelford and Stapleford | 6,159 | 10 | 7.2 | A |
| Hauxton | 1,322 | 13.6 | 5.6 | A |
| Harston | 1,827 | 16.4 | 11.7 | B |
Cambridge records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Milton, 2.9 miles away, records 15.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cambridge’s 35.3.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 714 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Cambridge’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Cambridge 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 built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Cambridge
Is Cambridge safe?
Police recorded 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cambridge’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 19% of UK towns. Among 44 UK towns of 107,000 to 206,000 people, Cambridge is 10th from the least crime. 17% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Cambridge?
By council ward, Newnham, Queen Edith's and Castle record the least violent and household crime per resident: 7.2, 21.2 and 20.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 98.5 in Market.
Is crime going up in Cambridge?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 8%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 9% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Cambridge city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 298 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 40% of them violent, and Market ward records 98.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Cambridge?
Violence & sexual offences: 5,164 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (2,605) and other theft (1,125), with 2,669 reports of anti-social behaviour.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area 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.