Photo: Pauline E · CC BY-SA 2.0Matlock records drugs at 2.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Matlock grades C for safety overall (#30 of 59 in Derbyshire): more crime per resident than 68% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It has less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 56% of UK towns, but less violent crime than only 26%. Violence recorded locally climbed 10% in a year. Its police logs show 33.1 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Matlock
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 10% more violent crime per resident in Matlock 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 fell 13% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, Matlock has the 221st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Uttoxeter, Hornsea and Sandiacre, higher than Silsden, Conwy and Barton-upon-Humber. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The C for Matlock, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,504 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Matlock 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, Matlock runs highest on drugs (4.2 per 1,000 against 1.9), public order (8.9 per 1,000 against 5.4) and shoplifting (8.2 per 1,000 against 6.1). Other crime and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 390 | 32.5 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 173 | 14.4 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 107 | 8.9 | 5.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 98 | 8.2 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 59 | 4.9 | 6.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 50 | 4.2 | 1.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 49 | 4.1 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 18 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 1.3 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 13 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 11 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 6 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
“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.
How Matlock’s neighbourhoods rank in England
28% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 13% 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.
Matlock’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 Matlock identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 61% of Matlock’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 14% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (57% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 7% 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. 533 crimes.
How crime in Matlock has moved
“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 +10% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -13% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -13% (towns its size -4%).
Crime in Matlock 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 13 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 Darley Dale, Matlock St Giles and Matlock All Saints; highest in Matlock All Saints
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darley Dale | 2,012 | 21.2 | 4.5 | |
| Matlock St Giles | 4,558 | 31.6 | 8.6 | |
| Matlock All Saints | 5,420 | 38.8 | 10.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Nightclubs | 157 | 34% violent |
| Car parks | 136 | 33% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 122 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 67 | 36% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 20 | 45% drugs, public order & other |
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 Matlock. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Matlock’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Matlock is 221st of 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 38 | Hilton Derbyshire | 8,269 | 19.8 | 5.9 | 3.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 140 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | 9,082 | 23.5 | 10.5 | 3.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 154 | New Mills Derbyshire | 9,195 | 27.1 | 8.8 | 4.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 190 | Ashbourne Derbyshire | 8,854 | 30.8 | 8.3 | 7.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 218 | Silsden West Yorkshire | 8,392 | 30.1 | 11.6 | 8.2 | C |
| 219 | Conwy Clwyd | 15,706 | 31 | 10.7 | 8.5 | C |
| 220 | Barton-upon-Humber Lincolnshire | 11,927 | 30.4 | 11.4 | 11.6 | C |
| 221 | Matlock Derbyshire | 11,990 | 33.1 | 8.7 | 12.8 | C |
| 222 | Sandbach Cheshire | 11,289 | 34.5 | 7.4 | 12 | C |
| 223 | Chigwell Essex | 12,251 | 24.1 | 17.8 | 5.1 | C |
| 224 | Prudhoe Northumberland | 10,285 | 28.4 | 13.6 | 9.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 428 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Matlock, and others in Derbyshire.
No one died in a collision on Matlock’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 71 collisions with injuries inside Matlock in five years. 14 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 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 Matlock’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Matlock’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Matlock had 24.0 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).
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 Matlock’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Matlock
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matlock | 11,990 | 33.1 | 8.7 | C |
| Tansley | 1,176 | 14.5 | 4 | A |
| Darley Dale | 3,985 | 22.2 | 7 | B |
| Cromford | 1,395 | 16.7 | 5.5 | A− |
| Wirksworth | 4,904 | 25.9 | 9.9 | C+ |
| Crich | 2,070 | 19.7 | 6.9 | B+ |
| South Wingfield | 1,079 | 28.4 | 4.3 | B− |
| Clay Cross | 8,915 | 58.7 | 14.9 | D |
Matlock records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Clay Cross records more. Tansley, 1.3 miles away, records 14.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Matlock’s 33.1.
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 Matlock 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 Matlock
Is Matlock safe?
Police recorded 33.1 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Matlock’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 32% of UK towns. Among 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, Matlock is 221st from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Matlock?
By council ward, Darley Dale, Matlock St Giles and Matlock All Saints record the least violent and household crime per resident: 21.2, 31.6 and 38.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 38.8 in Matlock All Saints.
Is crime going up in Matlock?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 10%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 13%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 13%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Matlock town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 157 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 34% of them violent, and Matlock All Saints ward records 38.8 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 October.
What is the most common crime in Matlock?
Violence & sexual offences: 390 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (107) and shoplifting (98), with 173 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.