Photo: Simon Cobb · CC0Compared with UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Budleigh Salterton has less crime per resident than nine in ten them
On violence it beats 84% of UK towns, and on burglary, vehicle crime and damage 87%. Per 1,000 residents a year, 13.1 violent and sexual offences and 5.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded. Violent crime was up 23% 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 Budleigh Salterton
Less crime than most places its size
Of 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Budleigh Salterton has the 30th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lightwater, Crawley Down and Kennington, higher than Bolton-le-Sands, Cleadon and Strensall. 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. 43% of Budleigh Salterton’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 23% more violent crime per resident in Budleigh Salterton than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
How Budleigh Salterton comes out at A
A fairly firm grade. Built on 270 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Budleigh Salterton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A third of Budleigh Salterton 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.
Budleigh Salterton’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
Criminal damage & arson and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 69 | 13.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 15 | 2.9 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 2.3 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 9 | 1.7 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 5 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“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.
How crime in Budleigh Salterton 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 +23% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -39% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -46% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -53% (towns its size +0%).
30th of 518: Budleigh Salterton among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Bolton-le-Sands Lancashire | 6,728 | 12.6 | 5.3 | 3.8 | A |
| 28 | Cleadon Tyne and Wear | 4,599 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 5.1 | A |
| 29 | Strensall North Yorkshire | 6,060 | 14.5 | 3.5 | 2.2 | A |
| 30 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | 5,237 | 13.1 | 5 | 4 | A |
| 31 | Middleton Cheney Northamptonshire | 4,127 | 13.4 | 4.9 | 4.3 | A |
| 32 | Keyworth Nottinghamshire | 6,822 | 12.8 | 5.5 | 6.6 | A |
| 33 | Albrighton Shropshire | 6,983 | 13.9 | 4.4 | 5.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Bovey Tracey Devon | 6,241 | 14.9 | 5.2 | 2.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Northam Devon | 5,191 | 14 | 6.2 | 3.7 | A− |
| 49 | Fremington Devon | 5,229 | 15.6 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 74 | Exminster Devon | 4,388 | 16.8 | 5.6 | 2.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 518 | Stainforth South Yorkshire | 5,999 | 72.5 | 49.7 | 14.4 | 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 Budleigh Salterton, and others in Devon.
Crime in Budleigh Salterton 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 3 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 3 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Budleigh Salterton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 9 collisions with injuries inside Budleigh Salterton in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Budleigh Salterton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Budleigh Salterton’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Budleigh Salterton had 2.
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 Budleigh Salterton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Budleigh Salterton
Budleigh Salterton records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Exton, 5.1 miles away, records 4.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Budleigh Salterton’s 13.1.
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
- 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 Budleigh Salterton 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 Budleigh Salterton
Is Budleigh Salterton safe?
Police recorded 13.1 violent and sexual offences and 5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Budleigh Salterton’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 87% of UK towns. Among 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Budleigh Salterton is 30th from the least crime. 43% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Budleigh Salterton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 23%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 39%, shoplifting and theft fell 46% and anti-social behaviour fell 53%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Budleigh Salterton?
Violence & sexual offences: 69 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (12) and other theft (10), with 15 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Budleigh Salterton compare with Exmouth?
Exmouth records 30.3 violent and sexual offences and 9.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Budleigh Salterton’s 13.1 and 5, 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.