Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0Carlisle has more crime per resident than 94% of UK towns
Possession of weapons: police recorded 161 in Carlisle in the 12 months to August 2026, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against 1.1 in a typical town its size. Violent crime was up 9% in a year. It grades D for safety on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Annual rates stand at 55.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Carlisle
One ward carries much of the rate
Castle ward, where 33% of Carlisle’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 2,823 of Carlisle’s 12,891 violent and sexual offences in three years: 168.9 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Carlisle the figure is 46.4. Where in Carlisle ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Carlisle than in the year before; across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 8% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 91 UK towns and cities of 54,000 to 105,000 people, Carlisle has the 68th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Weston-super-Mare, Lincoln and Scarborough, higher than Smethwick, Taunton and South Shields. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
32% of Carlisle’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 22% 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’s behind Carlisle’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 16,764 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Carlisle 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, Carlisle runs highest on possession of weapons (2.1 per 1,000 against 1.1), public order (13.9 per 1,000 against 7.4) and drugs (6.8 per 1,000 against 3.8). 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 | 4,296 | 55.3 | 38.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,080 | 13.9 | 7.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 864 | 11.1 | 7.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 835 | 10.7 | 10.3 |
| Drugs | not graded | 529 | 6.8 | 3.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 510 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 474 | 6.1 | 17.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 275 | 3.5 | 2.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 207 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 185 | 2.4 | 4.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 161 | 2.1 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 105 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 59 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 53 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Lowest recorded crime in Dalston and Burgh, Stanwix Urban and Belah; highest in Castle
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalston and Burgh | 1,885 | 17 | 5.3 | |
| Stanwix Urban | 5,666 | 17.6 | 7.2 | |
| Belah | 6,394 | 25.4 | 7.4 | |
| Yewdale | 5,629 | 23.7 | 12.1 | |
| Harraby South | 5,871 | 29.7 | 7.1 | |
| Belle Vue | 6,898 | 36.8 | 14.8 | |
| Upperby | 6,279 | 51.3 | 15.4 | |
| Denton Holme | 6,561 | 48.3 | 19.2 | |
| Morton | 5,975 | 49 | 18.5 | |
| Botcherby | 6,591 | 53.3 | 14.2 | |
| Harraby North | 6,556 | 59.2 | 17 | |
| Wetheral | 1,675 | 108.9 | 22.3 | |
| Currock | 6,178 | 103.4 | 27.9 | |
| Castle | 5,571 | 168.9 | 41.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1,064 | 62% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 1,044 | 54% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 560 | 40% violent |
| Petrol stations | 179 | 31% drugs, public order & other |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 157 | 48% violent |
| College and university buildings | 97 | 47% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 95 | 56% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 82 | 49% violent |
| Police stations | 64 | 39% violent |
| Nightclubs | 58 | 43% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Castle records 3.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Carlisle. 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 Carlisle. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Carlisle’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police in Carlisle identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Carlisle’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 12% of violent and 11% 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. 5,688 crimes.
Crime in Carlisle 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 16 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 19 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
32% of Carlisle residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
22% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 32% 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.
Carlisle’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.
Carlisle is 68th of 91 UK towns of 54,000 to 105,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria | 55,260 | 54.1 | 15.9 | 13.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 65 | Smethwick West Midlands | 56,343 | 51.1 | 20.1 | 10.7 | D |
| 66 | Taunton Somerset | 61,667 | 56.2 | 15.1 | 24.5 | D |
| 67 | South Shields Tyne and Wear | 73,326 | 49.1 | 22.9 | 26.4 | D |
| 68 | Carlisle Cumbria | 77,729 | 55.4 | 16.6 | 19.3 | D |
| 69 | Chesterfield Derbyshire | 76,394 | 56.2 | 17.1 | 21.8 | D |
| 70 | Margate Kent | 63,315 | 56.1 | 17.5 | 17.1 | D |
| 71 | Chatham Kent | 76,956 | 54 | 20.6 | 20.8 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 91 | Doncaster South Yorkshire | 87,440 | 72.6 | 38.2 | 43.3 | 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 Carlisle, and others in Cumbria.
How crime in Carlisle has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +9% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles +8% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +4% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -40% (towns its size -2%).
Eight people died in collisions on Carlisle’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 463 collisions with injuries inside Carlisle in five years, in which eight people died (3 were pedestrians). 111 people were killed or seriously injured: 44 on foot and 16 on a bicycle.
That is more than is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Carlisle’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Carlisle’s own rate (2.1) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Carlisle had 28.6 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 40% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Carlisle’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Carlisle
Carlisle records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Houghton, 2.4 miles away, records 13.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Carlisle’s 55.4.
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
- 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 Carlisle 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 Carlisle
Is Carlisle safe?
Police recorded 55.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Carlisle’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 6% of UK towns. Among 91 UK towns of 54,000 to 105,000 people, Carlisle is 68th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Carlisle?
By council ward, Dalston and Burgh, Stanwix Urban and Belah record the least violent and household crime per resident: 17, 17.6 and 25.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 168.9 in Castle.
Is crime going up in Carlisle?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 8%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 40%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Carlisle town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 58 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 43% of them violent, and Castle ward records 168.9 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 February.
What is the most common crime in Carlisle?
Violence & sexual offences: 4,296 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (1,080) and criminal damage & arson (864), with 474 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.