Photo: Jack Bromby · Public domainPer resident, Billingham records more crime than nine in ten UK towns
Burglary: police recorded 207 in Billingham in the 12 months to August 2026, 6.1 per 1,000 residents against 2.4 in a typical town its size. Year on year, 38.6 violent and sexual offences and 24.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. Measured on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #28 of 52 in County Durham.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Billingham
More crime than many places its size
Of 190 UK towns of 24,000 to 46,000 people, Billingham has the 147th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Sutton in Ashfield, Merthyr Tydfil and Chorley, higher than Ryde, Brighouse and Barnstaple. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
40% of Billingham’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 30% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Billingham’s D
A firm grade. Built on 6,396 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Billingham 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, Billingham runs highest on burglary (6.1 per 1,000 against 2.4), robbery (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.5) and vehicle crime (5.6 per 1,000 against 2.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,246 | 36.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 537 | 15.8 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 380 | 11.2 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 363 | 10.7 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 215 | 6.3 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 210 | 6.2 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 207 | 6.1 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 191 | 5.6 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 108 | 3.2 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 67 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 44 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 31 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 25 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 7 | 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.
40% of Billingham residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
30% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 40% 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.
Billingham’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.
147th of 190: Billingham among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 85 | Consett County Durham | 29,874 | 33.8 | 13.4 | 14.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 144 | Ryde Isle of Wight | 24,094 | 50.9 | 11.4 | 13.2 | D |
| 145 | Brighouse West Yorkshire | 33,159 | 46.3 | 16.2 | 14.9 | D |
| 146 | Barnstaple Devon | 31,271 | 48 | 14.6 | 22.8 | D |
| 147 | Billingham County Durham | 33,917 | 38.6 | 24.3 | 15.5 | D |
| 148 | Port Talbot West Glamorgan | 31,557 | 48.8 | 14.2 | 19.5 | D |
| 149 | St Austell Cornwall | 24,361 | 47.8 | 15.6 | 16.5 | D |
| 150 | Bletchley Buckinghamshire | 45,018 | 46.1 | 18.2 | 20.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 169 | Newton Aycliffe County Durham | 25,760 | 48.3 | 24.9 | 19.7 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 190 | 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 Billingham, and others in County Durham.
Crime in Billingham 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 23 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.
Lowest recorded crime in Billingham West, Billingham North and Billingham South; highest in Billingham East
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billingham West | 5,111 | 15.3 | 10 | |
| Billingham North | 8,592 | 17.9 | 12.2 | |
| Billingham South | 6,295 | 37.1 | 24.7 | |
| Billingham Central | 7,116 | 48.6 | 27.8 | |
| Billingham East | 6,803 | 72.3 | 45.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 871 | 29% violent |
| Supermarkets | 630 | 45% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 420 | 72% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 95 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 51 | 37% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Billingham East records 2.4× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Billingham. 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 Billingham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Billingham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of Billingham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 19% 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 7% 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. 2,178 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 -2% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +1% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +45% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -17% (towns its size -4%).
One person died in collisions on Billingham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 95 collisions with injuries inside Billingham in five years, in which one person died. 36 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 on foot and 7 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 Billingham’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Billingham’s own rate (0.6) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Billingham had 21.0 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). 14% 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.
Collisions police recorded inside Billingham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Billingham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billingham | 33,917 | 38.6 | 24.3 | D |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 16.6 | 5.5 | A− |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 84,824 | 63.5 | 32.2 | D− |
| Thornaby-on-Tees | 23,352 | 59.3 | 33.4 | D− |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 70.8 | 40.1 | D− |
| Stillington | 1,407 | 28.7 | 14 | C |
| Hartlepool | 88,001 | 63.1 | 28.5 | D− |
| Eston | 29,625 | 62.1 | 42.7 | D− |
Billingham records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Wynyard, 3.1 miles away, records 16.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Billingham’s 38.6.
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 Billingham 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 Billingham
Is Billingham safe?
Police recorded 38.6 violent and sexual offences and 24.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Billingham’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 10% of UK towns. Among 190 UK towns of 24,000 to 46,000 people, Billingham is 147th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Billingham?
By council ward, Billingham West, Billingham North and Billingham South record the least violent and household crime per resident: 15.3, 17.9 and 37.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 72.3 in Billingham East.
Is crime going up in Billingham?
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 45% and anti-social behaviour fell 17%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Billingham?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,246 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (380) and shoplifting (363), with 537 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Billingham compare with Middlesbrough?
Middlesbrough records 70.8 violent and sexual offences and 40.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Billingham’s 38.6 and 24.3, 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.