Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Cottenham records burglary at 2 times the rate of a typical town its size
On violence it beats 60% of UK towns; on burglary, vehicle crime and damage, only 33%. Taking everything together, Cottenham scores B− (#26 of 50 in Cambridgeshire): close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violent crime was up 13% in a year. Its police logs show 19.7 violent and sexual offences and 12.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cottenham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 13% more violent crime per resident in Cottenham than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 51% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Cottenham has the 273rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe, Long Lawford and Tadcaster, higher than Virginia Water, Hoylake and Whittle-le-Woods. 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. 27% of Cottenham’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
The B− for Cottenham, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 585 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cottenham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
1 in 4 Cottenham residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
52% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Cottenham’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Cottenham runs highest on burglary (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.9), anti-social behaviour (16.1 per 1,000 against 8.8) and other crime (2.4 per 1,000 against 1.5). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 125 | 20.3 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 99 | 16.1 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 46 | 7.5 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 23 | 3.7 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 19 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 17 | 2.8 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 15 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 15 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 9 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 1.1 | 0.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 4 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.5 | 0 |
“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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Police in Cottenham identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 80% of Cottenham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 6% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 1% 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. 193 crimes.
How crime in Cottenham has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-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 +13% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +51% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +6% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +30% (towns its size +0%).
Cottenham is 273rd of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Great Shelford and Stapleford Cambridgeshire | 6,159 | 10 | 7.2 | 3.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Girton Cambridgeshire | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 4.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 142 | Burwell Cambridgeshire | 5,912 | 16.6 | 8.9 | 6.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 162 | Linton Cambridgeshire | 4,452 | 20 | 6.9 | 5.8 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 270 | Virginia Water Surrey | 5,185 | 19.8 | 11.7 | 10.1 | B− |
| 271 | Hoylake Merseyside | 5,311 | 23.1 | 8.4 | 10.1 | B− |
| 272 | Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire | 4,388 | 22.8 | 8.7 | 4.3 | B− |
| 273 | Cottenham Cambridgeshire | 6,156 | 19.7 | 12 | 4.9 | B− |
| 274 | Marchwood Hampshire | 5,776 | 22.9 | 8.8 | 5.6 | B− |
| 275 | Dickens Heath West Midlands | 4,797 | 19.6 | 12.1 | 4.3 | B− |
| 276 | Breaston and Draycott Derbyshire | 7,393 | 22.6 | 9.2 | 8.6 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Cottenham, and others in Cambridgeshire.
Crime in Cottenham 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Cottenham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 14 collisions with injuries inside Cottenham in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Cottenham is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Cottenham’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Cottenham had 4.
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 Cottenham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cottenham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottenham | 6,156 | 19.7 | 12 | B− |
| Histon and Impington | 7,781 | 18.8 | 11.3 | B |
| Oakington | 1,494 | 12.1 | 6.3 | A |
| Willingham | 3,912 | 21.1 | 9.6 | B− |
| Waterbeach | 5,375 | 23.5 | 12.7 | C+ |
| Longstanton and Northstowe | 5,278 | 35.2 | 16.1 | C− |
| Milton | 4,150 | 15.7 | 11.5 | B |
| Girton | 4,384 | 8.7 | 8.7 | A |
Cottenham records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Waterbeach and Longstanton and Northstowe record more. Histon and Impington, 2.7 miles away, records 18.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cottenham’s 19.7.
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
- 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 Cottenham 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 Cottenham
Is Cottenham safe?
Police recorded 19.7 violent and sexual offences and 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cottenham’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 52% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Cottenham is 273rd from the least crime. 27% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Cottenham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 13%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 51%, shoplifting and theft rose 6% and anti-social behaviour rose 30%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Cottenham?
Violence & sexual offences: 125 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (46) and burglary (23), with 99 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Cottenham compare with Cambridge?
Cambridge records 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Cottenham’s 19.7 and 12, over the same three years.
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.