Photo: Mikeca142007 · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Workington than in 96% of UK towns
The Safety Grade comes out at D−, drawn from crimes police recorded inside Workington’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Typical years here bring 59.3 violent and sexual offences plus 22.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Public order: police recorded 299 locally in the 12 months to August 2026, 14.1 per 1,000 residents against 5.4 in a typical town its size.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Workington
Neighbourhood ranks
64% of Workington’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 15% 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.
The D− for Workington, and how it is built
A firm grade. Built on 5,194 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Workington against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
64% of Workington residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
15% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 64% 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.
Workington’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.
Police in Workington identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 50% of Workington’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% 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 11% 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. 1,679 crimes.
How Workington compares with UK towns of 15,000 to 29,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Streetly West Midlands | 16,790 | 11.2 | 9 | 5.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 155 | Kendal Cumbria | 28,939 | 37.6 | 10.8 | 13 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 204 | Penrith Cumbria | 16,705 | 45.9 | 11.3 | 17.8 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 234 | Whitehaven Cumbria | 22,952 | 52 | 14.5 | 10 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 252 | Darlaston West Midlands | 21,541 | 53.7 | 25.5 | 13.4 | D− |
| 253 | Ashington Northumberland | 28,279 | 53.4 | 27.2 | 26.7 | D− |
| 254 | Ebbw Vale Gwent | 19,635 | 52.9 | 28 | 13 | D− |
| 255 | Workington Cumbria | 21,276 | 59.3 | 22.1 | 21.8 | D− |
| 256 | Wednesbury West Midlands | 20,321 | 51.6 | 30.8 | 35.3 | D− |
| 257 | Patchway Gloucestershire | 16,517 | 61.4 | 23.9 | 64.3 | D− |
| 258 | Stanley County Durham | 19,423 | 57.4 | 28 | 24.7 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 268 | 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 Workington, and others in Cumbria.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Workington runs highest on public order (14.1 per 1,000 against 5.4), drugs (4.8 per 1,000 against 1.9) and shoplifting (13.1 per 1,000 against 6.1). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,281 | 60.2 | 30.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 299 | 14.1 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 280 | 13.2 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 278 | 13.1 | 6.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 186 | 8.7 | 12.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 147 | 6.9 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 102 | 4.8 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 95 | 4.5 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 71 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 65 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 20 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 9 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 8 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 0.3 | 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.
Crime in Workington 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 21 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 21 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 Harrington, Moss Bay and Moorclose and St Michael's; highest in Seaton
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrington | 4,915 | 42.1 | 18.3 | |
| Moss Bay and Moorclose | 6,906 | 53.7 | 17.9 | |
| St Michael's | 5,372 | 60.8 | 26.1 | |
| St John's and Great Clifton | 3,205 | 79.6 | 20.6 | |
| Seaton | 878 | 116.6 | 56.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 802 | 32% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 403 | 66% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 373 | 37% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 82 | 37% violent |
| Supermarkets | 56 | 64% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 48 | 50% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Seaton records 2.1× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Workington. 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 Workington. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Workington’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
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 -1% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -9% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +2% (towns its size -4%).
Two people died in collisions on Workington’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 109 collisions with injuries inside Workington in five years, in which two people died. 37 people were killed or seriously injured: 19 on foot and 3 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 Workington’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Workington’s own rate (1.9) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Workington had 34.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 51% 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 Workington’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Workington
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workington | 21,276 | 59.3 | 22.1 | D− |
| High Harrington | 1,574 | 10 | 1.7 | A+ |
| Stainburn | 2,120 | 14.3 | 3.6 | A |
| Seaton | 5,051 | 15.5 | 4.6 | A− |
| Distington | 1,375 | 30.6 | 7.5 | C+ |
| Flimby | 1,716 | 32.8 | 15.2 | C− |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 12.4 | 1.4 | A+ |
| Great Broughton and Little Broughton | 1,763 | 16.3 | 2.3 | A |
Workington records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. High Harrington, 1.2 miles away, records 10 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Workington’s 59.3.
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 Workington 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 Workington
Is Workington safe?
Police recorded 59.3 violent and sexual offences and 22.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Workington’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 4% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Workington has less crime per resident than 6%.
What are the safest areas of Workington?
By council ward, Harrington, Moss Bay and Moorclose and St Michael's record the least violent and household crime per resident: 42.1, 53.7 and 60.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 116.6 in Seaton.
Is crime going up in Workington?
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 fell 9% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Workington?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,281 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (299) and criminal damage & arson (280), with 186 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Workington compare with Whitehaven?
Whitehaven records 52 violent and sexual offences and 14.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Workington’s 59.3 and 22.1, 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.