Photo: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime per resident in Congleton runs higher than in 76% of UK towns
Counting crimes police recorded inside Congleton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades C− for safety: #36 of 46 in Cheshire.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Congleton
About the middle for a town its size
Of 216 UK towns of 21,000 to 41,000 people, Congleton has the 106th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Rawtenstall, Retford and Daventry, higher than Loughton, Ossett and Antrim. 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. 19% of Congleton’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 26% 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.
Congleton grades C− for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 4,303 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Congleton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Police in Congleton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
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. 1,556 crimes.
No suspect was identified for 42% of Congleton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 4% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (21% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 0% of household crimes reached court.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
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.
Against the typical town its size, Congleton runs highest on public order (8.8 per 1,000 against 5.4), drugs (2.7 per 1,000 against 1.9) and violence & sexual offences (36.2 per 1,000 against 30.4). Vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,086 | 36.2 | 30.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 265 | 8.8 | 5.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 211 | 7 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 146 | 4.9 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 135 | 4.5 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 110 | 3.7 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 82 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 67 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 64 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 53 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 30 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 12 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 9 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“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.
1 in 5 Congleton residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
Congleton’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.
51% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 26% 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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 37 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
Violent crime held steady over the year
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 +2% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -3% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +8% (towns its size -4%).
“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).
Lowest recorded crime in Gawsworth, Brereton Rural and Congleton West; highest in Congleton East
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Congleton’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gawsworth | 517 | 21.9 | 6.4 | |
| Brereton Rural | 1,732 | 25.4 | 4.4 | |
| Congleton West | 14,267 | 35.1 | 9.7 | |
| Congleton East | 13,485 | 44.6 | 9.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 399 | 43% violent |
| Supermarkets | 266 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 185 | 64% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 134 | 59% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 76 | 54% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 46 | 57% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Congleton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Congleton is 106th of 216 UK towns of 21,000 to 41,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Congleton, and others in Cheshire.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Wilmslow Cheshire | 25,716 | 20.9 | 7.8 | 8.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 103 | Loughton Essex | 33,338 | 30.2 | 17.1 | 19.7 | C |
| 104 | Ossett West Yorkshire | 21,854 | 33.8 | 13.6 | 9.9 | C |
| 105 | Antrim Antrim and Newtownabbey | 25,606 | 33.7 | 13.6 | 8.7 | C |
| 106 | Congleton Cheshire | 30,001 | 38.6 | 9.2 | 10 | C− |
| 107 | Kendal Cumbria | 28,939 | 37.6 | 10.8 | 13 | C− |
| 108 | Hucknall Nottinghamshire | 35,848 | 34.4 | 14.3 | 23.4 | C− |
| 109 | Lichfield Staffordshire | 32,586 | 34.1 | 14.7 | 15.1 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 160 | Winsford Cheshire | 32,522 | 49.9 | 10.3 | 7.7 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 216 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
One person died in collisions on Congleton’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Congleton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 115 collisions with injuries inside Congleton in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 34 people were killed or seriously injured: 17 on foot and 2 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 Congleton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Congleton’s own rate (0.7) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Congleton had 22.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 50% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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.
Crime in the places around Congleton
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congleton | 30,001 | 38.6 | 9.2 | C− |
| Biddulph | 17,490 | 33.5 | 12.2 | C |
| Scholar Green | 2,095 | 16.2 | 5.4 | A− |
| Biddulph Moor | 1,286 | 15.3 | 8.3 | B+ |
| Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel | 3,637 | 18.2 | 7.9 | B+ |
| Rode Heath | 1,901 | 17.7 | 2.8 | A− |
| Kidsgrove | 15,598 | 36 | 10.5 | C |
| Alsager | 15,504 | 27.4 | 6.2 | B− |
Congleton records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Biddulph, 3.9 miles away, records 33.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Congleton’s 38.6.
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 Congleton 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 Congleton
Is Congleton safe?
Police recorded 38.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Congleton’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 24% of UK towns. Among 216 UK towns of 21,000 to 41,000 people, Congleton is 106th from the least crime. 19% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Congleton?
By council ward, Gawsworth, Brereton Rural and Congleton West record the least violent and household crime per resident: 21.9, 25.4 and 35.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 44.6 in Congleton East.
Is crime going up in Congleton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 8%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Congleton town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 134 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 59% of them violent, and Congleton East ward records 44.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in May and was lowest in September.
What is the most common crime in Congleton?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,086 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (265) and shoplifting (146), with 211 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Congleton compare with Macclesfield?
Macclesfield records 40.2 violent and sexual offences and 10.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Congleton’s 38.6 and 9.2, 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.