Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Bovey Tracey records less crime per resident than 89%
Recorded violence fell 6% in a year. Police counts work out at 14.9 violent and sexual offences and 5.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. Violent crime here is lower than in 79% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, lower than in 85%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bovey Tracey
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% less violent crime per resident in Bovey Tracey than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Bovey Tracey has the 49th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Fremington, Deeping St James and Wingerworth, higher than Four Marks, Donaghadee and Milford on Sea. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 66% of Bovey Tracey’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
How Bovey Tracey comes out at A−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 362 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bovey Tracey against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Most Bovey Tracey residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
100% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Bovey Tracey’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
Public order and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 93 | 14.9 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 26 | 4.2 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 16 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 15 | 2.4 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 1.8 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 8 | 1.3 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.2 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Towns its size: Bovey Tracey comes 49th of 628
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | 5,237 | 13.1 | 5 | 4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Four Marks Hampshire | 5,613 | 13.8 | 5.5 | 5.1 | A− |
| 47 | Donaghadee Ards and North Down | 7,325 | 14 | 5.7 | 3.5 | A− |
| 48 | Milford on Sea Hampshire | 4,364 | 12.5 | 7.3 | 3.2 | A− |
| 49 | Bovey Tracey Devon | 6,241 | 14.9 | 5.2 | 2.9 | A− |
| 50 | Great Notley Essex | 7,659 | 13.8 | 6.3 | 7.8 | A− |
| 51 | Seaton Cumbria | 5,051 | 15.5 | 4.6 | 2.5 | A− |
| 52 | Northam Devon | 5,191 | 14 | 6.2 | 3.7 | A− |
| 53 | Fremington Devon | 5,229 | 15.6 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | Exminster Devon | 4,388 | 16.8 | 5.6 | 2.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Braunton Devon | 6,610 | 17.3 | 7.8 | 4.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Bovey Tracey, and others in Devon.
Crime in Bovey Tracey 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 6 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Bovey Tracey has moved
Devon & Cornwall Police published three months short or not at all (Sep 2023, Oct 2023 and Nov 2023), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-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 -6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +29% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour -58% (towns its size +0%).
No one died in a collision on Bovey Tracey’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 11 collisions with injuries inside Bovey Tracey in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Bovey Tracey is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bovey Tracey’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bovey Tracey had 0.
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 Bovey Tracey’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bovey Tracey
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovey Tracey | 6,241 | 14.9 | 5.2 | A− |
| Heathfield | 1,496 | 36 | 7.8 | C |
| Coldeast | 1,186 | 9.5 | 5.8 | A |
| Chudleigh Knighton | 1,168 | 11.5 | 5.3 | A |
| Chudleigh | 4,372 | 22.9 | 7.4 | B |
| Kingsteignton | 11,945 | 20 | 8.6 | B |
| Newton Abbot | 29,650 | 40.4 | 11.2 | C− |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 38 | 4.7 | C |
Bovey Tracey records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Coldeast, 2.1 miles away, records 9.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bovey Tracey’s 14.9.
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
- Some months are short. Devon & Cornwall Police published September 2023, October 2023 and November 2023 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Bovey Tracey 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 Bovey Tracey
Is Bovey Tracey safe?
Police recorded 14.9 violent and sexual offences and 5.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bovey Tracey’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 83% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Bovey Tracey is 49th from the least crime. 66% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Bovey Tracey?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 29%, shoplifting and theft rose 117% and anti-social behaviour fell 58%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bovey Tracey?
Violence & sexual offences: 93 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (26) and other theft (16), with 15 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bovey Tracey compare with Newton Abbot?
Newton Abbot records 40.4 violent and sexual offences and 11.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bovey Tracey’s 14.9 and 5.2, 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.