Photo: Malcolm Neal · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Derby than in 95% of UK towns
Drugs: police recorded 1,990 in Derby in the 12 months to August 2026, 7.2 per 1,000 residents against 3.8 in a typical town its size. Behind the grade sit 57.0 violent and sexual offences and 17.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year. On the record of crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it takes D for safety: #57 of 59 in Derbyshire. Violence recorded locally climbed 7% 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 Derby
One ward carries much of the rate
Arboretum ward, where 31% of Derby’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 10,163 of Derby’s 47,129 violent and sexual offences in three years: 159.3 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Derby the figure is 48.5. Where in Derby ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 7% more violent crime per resident in Derby 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 46 UK towns and cities of 193,000 to 372,000 people, Derby has the 39th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Southampton, Kingston upon Hull and Bradford, higher than Coventry, Newcastle upon Tyne and Wolverhampton. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
35% of Derby’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 19% 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 grade: D for Derby
A firm grade. Built on 61,788 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Derby against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Lowest recorded crime in Allestree, Mickleover and Stenson; highest in Arboretum
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allestree | 13,546 | 14.6 | 5.9 | |
| Mickleover | 14,694 | 25.2 | 6.6 | |
| Stenson | 5,079 | 25.3 | 8.1 | |
| Etwall | 2,214 | 27.6 | 9.5 | |
| Oakwood | 13,418 | 27.8 | 10.1 | |
| Blagreaves | 13,249 | 32.7 | 8 | |
| Chellaston | 15,768 | 29 | 13 | |
| Willington and Findern | 2,458 | 35.8 | 9 | |
| South West Parishes | 1,283 | 36.4 | 8.8 | |
| Spondon | 12,653 | 32.6 | 17 | |
| Mackworth | 15,498 | 49.1 | 15.4 | |
| Chaddesden | 13,369 | 45 | 21.1 | |
| Aston | 3,387 | 50.6 | 16.6 | |
| Littleover | 15,126 | 54.9 | 12.8 | |
| Normanton | 19,806 | 55.9 | 15.2 | |
| Boulton | 14,449 | 55.3 | 16.1 | |
| Derwent | 14,352 | 59.7 | 23.4 | |
| Sinfin | 16,953 | 64.7 | 19.4 | |
| Darley | 15,254 | 60.5 | 23.9 | |
| Alvaston | 16,797 | 80.3 | 24.3 | |
| Abbey | 14,939 | 84.1 | 25.7 | |
| Arboretum | 21,269 | 159.3 | 38.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 5,453 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 4,045 | 31% violent |
| Shopping areas | 3,111 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 1,948 | 40% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 1,461 | 38% violent |
| Hospitals | 1,131 | 46% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 603 | 38% violent |
| Police stations | 317 | 50% violent |
| College and university buildings | 268 | 36% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 90 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Arboretum records 3.3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Derby. 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 Derby. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Derby’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Derby places 39th of 46 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harrow London | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | 16 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Coventry West Midlands | 344,289 | 47.6 | 23.7 | 20.2 | D |
| 37 | Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear | 286,472 | 47.8 | 24.2 | 29.9 | D |
| 38 | Wolverhampton West Midlands | 234,029 | 50.6 | 21.7 | 20.1 | D |
| 39 | Derby Derbyshire | 275,561 | 57 | 17.8 | 20.5 | D |
| 40 | Nottingham Nottinghamshire | 299,786 | 53.3 | 23.3 | 31.9 | D− |
| 41 | Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire | 260,560 | 55.1 | 23.4 | 19.4 | D− |
| 42 | Camden London | 209,342 | 48.8 | 30.5 | 103.5 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | 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 Derby, and others in Derbyshire.
35% of Derby residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
19% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 35% 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.
Derby’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, Derby runs highest on drugs (7.2 per 1,000 against 3.8), theft from the person (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.7) and public order (12.6 per 1,000 against 7.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 15,542 | 56.4 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 4,703 | 17.1 | 17.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 3,471 | 12.6 | 7.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2,831 | 10.3 | 10.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 2,322 | 8.4 | 7.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 2,172 | 7.9 | 6.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1,990 | 7.2 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1,298 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 930 | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 707 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 467 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 438 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 313 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 243 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
“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.
Crime in Derby 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 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 20 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police in Derby identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 61% of Derby’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (58% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 9% 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. 20,683 crimes.
How crime in Derby 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 +7% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -6% (towns its size -2%).
16 people died in collisions on Derby’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2,313 collisions with injuries inside Derby in five years, in which 16 people died (4 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist). 529 people were killed or seriously injured: 156 on foot and 91 on a bicycle.
That is 1.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Derby had 38.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 29% 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 Derby’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Derby
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | 275,561 | 57 | 17.8 | D |
| Findern | 1,608 | 12.7 | 5 | A |
| Borrowash | 7,171 | 21.4 | 8.6 | B |
| Little Eaton | 1,875 | 12.1 | 5.9 | A |
| Aston-on-Trent | 2,433 | 11.2 | 5.1 | A |
| Makeney | 4,691 | 15.8 | 5.5 | A− |
| Willington | 2,717 | 19.4 | 7 | B+ |
| Etwall | 3,080 | 22.8 | 5.7 | B |
Derby records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Findern, 3.9 miles away, records 12.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Derby’s 57.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 1,131 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Derby’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Derby 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 Derby
Is Derby safe?
Police recorded 57 violent and sexual offences and 17.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Derby’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 5% of UK towns. Among 46 UK towns of 193,000 to 372,000 people, Derby is 39th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Derby?
By council ward, Allestree, Mickleover and Stenson record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.6, 25.2 and 25.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 159.3 in Arboretum.
Is crime going up in Derby?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 7%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 6%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Derby city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 1,461 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 38% of them violent, and Arboretum ward records 159.3 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 February.
What is the most common crime in Derby?
Violence & sexual offences: 15,542 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (3,471) and shoplifting (2,831), with 4,703 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.