Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0On violent crime, Sandbach has a higher rate per resident than 77% of UK towns
Recorded violence held steady in a year. Of all the kinds of crime, public order is where Sandbach departs most from towns its size: 9.2 per 1,000 against 5.4. Overall, Sandbach grades C for safety (#34 of 46 in Cheshire): more crime per resident than 68% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The local count comes to 34.5 violent and sexual offences and 7.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Sandbach
One ward carries much of the rate
Sandbach Elworth ward recorded 186 of Sandbach’s 1,168 violent and sexual offences in three years: 89.2 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Sandbach the figure is 30.9. Where in Sandbach ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Sandbach has the 206th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hornsea, Sandiacre and Longridge, higher than Silsden, Barton-upon-Humber and Matlock. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Sandbach’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,419 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Sandbach against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in Sandbach identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 49% of Sandbach’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 5% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (24% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 5% 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. 494 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Sandbach Town, Sandbach Heath and East and Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock; highest in Sandbach Elworth
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandbach Town | 4,800 | 24 | 5 | |
| Sandbach Heath and East | 4,908 | 36.5 | 8.3 | |
| Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock | 886 | 37.6 | 11.3 | |
| Sandbach Elworth | 695 | 89.2 | 12.9 |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Sandbach Elworth records 2.9× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Sandbach.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Sandbach’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Sandbach runs highest on public order (9.2 per 1,000 against 5.4), possession of weapons (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and drugs (2.7 per 1,000 against 1.9). Vehicle crime and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 366 | 32.4 | 30.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 104 | 9.2 | 5.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 90 | 8 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 84 | 7.4 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 55 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 38 | 3.4 | 6.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 31 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 27 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 19 | 1.7 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 17 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 12 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
“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.
How Sandbach’s neighbourhoods rank in England
50% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 13% 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.
Sandbach’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.
Crime in Sandbach 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 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 13 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 Sandbach 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).
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 -4% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +1% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +48% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +14% (towns its size -4%).
Set against 393 towns its size, Sandbach is 206th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Davenham Cheshire | 13,840 | 18.5 | 3.4 | 3.5 | A− |
| 16 | Poynton Cheshire | 13,015 | 16.4 | 5.4 | 8.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Lymm Cheshire | 11,547 | 16.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 56 | Knutsford Cheshire | 13,254 | 21.2 | 7.3 | 8.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 203 | Silsden West Yorkshire | 8,392 | 30.1 | 11.6 | 8.2 | C |
| 204 | Barton-upon-Humber Lincolnshire | 11,927 | 30.4 | 11.4 | 11.6 | C |
| 205 | Matlock Derbyshire | 11,990 | 33.1 | 8.7 | 12.8 | C |
| 206 | Sandbach Cheshire | 11,289 | 34.5 | 7.4 | 12 | C |
| 207 | Chigwell Essex | 12,251 | 24.1 | 17.8 | 5.1 | C |
| 208 | Prudhoe Northumberland | 10,285 | 28.4 | 13.6 | 9.1 | C |
| 209 | Uttoxeter Staffordshire | 14,024 | 33.1 | 8.9 | 11.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 393 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Sandbach, and others in Cheshire.
No one died in a collision on Sandbach’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 49 collisions with injuries inside Sandbach in five years. 10 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 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 Sandbach’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Sandbach’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Sandbach had 18.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Sandbach’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Sandbach
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandbach | 11,289 | 34.5 | 7.4 | C |
| Wheelock | 2,155 | 29.7 | 5.7 | C+ |
| Elworth | 7,646 | 23.9 | 4.5 | B |
| Winterley | 1,371 | 18 | 4.1 | A− |
| Haslington | 5,042 | 17.1 | 4 | A− |
| Rode Heath | 1,901 | 17.7 | 2.8 | A− |
| Holmes Chapel | 6,674 | 18.8 | 4 | A− |
| Alsager | 15,504 | 27.4 | 6.2 | B− |
Sandbach records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Wheelock, 1.2 miles away, records 29.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Sandbach’s 34.5.
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 Sandbach 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 Sandbach
Is Sandbach safe?
Police recorded 34.5 violent and sexual offences and 7.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Sandbach’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 32% of UK towns. Among 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Sandbach is 206th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Sandbach?
By council ward, Sandbach Town, Sandbach Heath and East and Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock record the least violent and household crime per resident: 24, 36.5 and 37.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 89.2 in Sandbach Elworth.
Is crime going up in Sandbach?
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 rose 48% and anti-social behaviour rose 14%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Sandbach?
Violence & sexual offences: 366 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (104) and shoplifting (84), with 90 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Sandbach compare with Crewe?
Crewe records 51.3 violent and sexual offences and 14.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Sandbach’s 34.5 and 7.4, 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.