Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Falmouth records more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than seven in ten UK towns
At 12 per 1,000 residents, shoplifting in Falmouth runs well past the 6.1 of a typical town its size (288 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026). In a usual year, 29.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. Its Safety Grade is C, on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #14 of 35 in Cornwall. Recorded violence rose 27% 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 Falmouth
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 27% more violent crime per resident in Falmouth 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 rose 18% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 226 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people, Falmouth has the 91st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Maldon, Longbenton and Cirencester, higher than Stratton St Margaret, Walton-on-Thames and Stone. 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. 28% of Falmouth’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.
What sits behind Falmouth’s C
A firm grade. Built on 2,900 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Falmouth against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Falmouth has moved
Devon & Cornwall Police published three months short or not at all (Sep 2023, Oct 2023 and Nov 2023), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 +27% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +18% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -44% (towns its size -4%).
1 in 4 Falmouth residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
49% 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.
Falmouth’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, Falmouth runs highest on shoplifting (12 per 1,000 against 6.1), vehicle crime (4.4 per 1,000 against 2.8) and other theft (5.9 per 1,000 against 4.4). Other crime and burglary sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 776 | 32.2 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 290 | 12.1 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 288 | 12 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 190 | 7.9 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 142 | 5.9 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 106 | 4.4 | 2.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 105 | 4.4 | 5.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 41 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 33 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 30 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 17 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 10 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 9 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.2 | 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.
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.
Police in Falmouth identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 64% of Falmouth’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 2% 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. 855 crimes.
Crime in Falmouth 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 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Towns its size: Falmouth comes 91st of 226
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | 20,689 | 29.5 | 11.8 | 12.7 | C |
| 89 | Walton-on-Thames Surrey | 27,016 | 28.5 | 12.9 | 13.7 | C |
| 90 | Stone Staffordshire | 17,282 | 32.6 | 9 | 11.1 | C |
| 91 | Falmouth Cornwall | 24,066 | 29.4 | 12.5 | 16.5 | C |
| 92 | Hertford Hertfordshire | 28,807 | 29.8 | 12.1 | 17.4 | C |
| 93 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | 20,302 | 27.6 | 14.9 | 10.6 | C |
| 94 | Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire | 30,933 | 32.1 | 10.9 | 18.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 171 | Newquay Cornwall | 24,543 | 45.9 | 14.8 | 18 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 184 | St Austell Cornwall | 24,361 | 47.8 | 15.6 | 16.5 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 191 | Camborne Cornwall | 20,445 | 50 | 17.1 | 11.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 200 | Truro Cornwall | 23,060 | 56.3 | 16.3 | 22.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 226 | 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.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Falmouth, and others in Cornwall.
Lowest recorded crime in Falmouth Boslowick, Falmouth Penwerris and Falmouth Trescobeas & Budock; highest in Falmouth Arwenack
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falmouth Boslowick | 6,371 | 15.2 | 5.9 | |
| Falmouth Penwerris | 7,446 | 31.6 | 13.9 | |
| Falmouth Trescobeas & Budock | 4,311 | 36.2 | 10.9 | |
| Falmouth Arwenack | 5,938 | 31.7 | 17.1 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 627 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 209 | 51% violent |
| Shopping areas | 98 | 56% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 86 | 85% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 43 | 49% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 34 | 38% violent |
| Ferry terminals | 26 | 38% 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 Falmouth. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Falmouth’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Falmouth’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 99 collisions with injuries inside Falmouth in five years, in which one person died. 28 people were killed or seriously injured: 10 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 Falmouth’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Falmouth’s own rate (0.8) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Falmouth had 23.3 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).
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 Falmouth’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Falmouth
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falmouth | 24,066 | 29.4 | 12.5 | C |
| Penryn | 11,194 | 21.6 | 8.7 | B |
| Mylor Bridge | 1,534 | 9.7 | 2.6 | A+ |
| Mawnan Smith | 1,001 | 8 | 1.5 | A+ |
| Perranarworthal | 1,305 | 10.6 | 2 | A+ |
| Carnon Downs and Devoran | 2,129 | 14.3 | 3.9 | A |
| Stithians | 1,613 | 17.8 | 5 | A− |
| Lanner | 2,164 | 18 | 4.2 | A− |
Falmouth records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Penryn, 2 miles away, records 21.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Falmouth’s 29.4.
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
- Some months are short. Devon & Cornwall Police published September 2023, October 2023 and November 2023 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Falmouth 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 Falmouth
Is Falmouth safe?
Police recorded 29.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Falmouth’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 32% of UK towns. Among 226 UK towns of 17,000 to 32,000 people, Falmouth is 91st from the least crime. 28% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Falmouth?
By council ward, Falmouth Boslowick, Falmouth Penwerris and Falmouth Trescobeas & Budock record the least violent and household crime per resident: 15.2, 31.6 and 36.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 31.7 in Falmouth Arwenack.
Is crime going up in Falmouth?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 27%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 18%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 44%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Falmouth town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 209 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 51% of them violent, and Falmouth Trescobeas & Budock ward records 36.2 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 December.
What is the most common crime in Falmouth?
Violence & sexual offences: 776 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (288) and criminal damage & arson (190), with 290 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.