Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0South Molton sees more violent crime per resident than seven in ten UK towns
Shoplifting runs at 3.1 per 1,000 residents in South Molton, against 1.8 in a typical town its size: police recorded 19 in the 12 months to August 2026. Recorded violence held steady in a year. From September 2023 to August 2026, crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area put it at C+ for safety: #24 of 47 in Devon. Typical years here bring 30.5 violent and sexual offences plus 9.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in South Molton
More crime than many places its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, South Molton has the 400th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Dursley, Chipping Norton and Huntington, higher than Ackworth Moor Top, Wem and Moreton-in-Marsh. 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. 42% of South Molton’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.
What’s behind South Molton’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 709 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks South Molton 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 South Molton residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
42% 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.
South Molton’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, South Molton runs highest on shoplifting (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), criminal damage & arson (6.6 per 1,000 against 4.5) and violence & sexual offences (32 per 1,000 against 22.4). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 199 | 32 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 46 | 7.4 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 41 | 6.6 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 25 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 23 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 19 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 13 | 2.1 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 8 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 1.3 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 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.
Towns its size: South Molton comes 400th 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 |
| … | ||||||
| 49 | Bovey Tracey Devon | 6,241 | 14.9 | 5.2 | 2.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 52 | Northam Devon | 5,191 | 14 | 6.2 | 3.7 | A− |
| 53 | Fremington Devon | 5,229 | 15.6 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 397 | Ackworth Moor Top West Yorkshire | 6,275 | 27.4 | 12.1 | 9.5 | C+ |
| 398 | Wem Shropshire | 6,287 | 29.4 | 10 | 7.3 | C+ |
| 399 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | 5,015 | 28.4 | 11.1 | 7.4 | C+ |
| 400 | South Molton Devon | 6,226 | 30.5 | 9.1 | 6.1 | C+ |
| 401 | Kimberley Nottinghamshire | 4,467 | 25.8 | 13.7 | 28.1 | C+ |
| 402 | North Weald Bassett Essex | 4,323 | 26.7 | 13.1 | 4.9 | C+ |
| 403 | Anstey Leicestershire | 7,043 | 25 | 14.8 | 5.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 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 South Molton, and others in Devon.
How crime in South Molton 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 +5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +13% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +31% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -25% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in South Molton 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 70% of South Molton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (60% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% of violent and 0% 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. 193 crimes.
Where in South Molton police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 48 | 42% violent |
| Supermarkets | 38 | 32% violent |
| Shopping areas | 36 | 36% violent |
| College and university buildings | 31 | 58% violent |
| Car parks | 28 | 36% violent |
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 South Molton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on South Molton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 21 collisions with injuries inside South Molton in five years. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and South Molton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of South Molton’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; South Molton had 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 South Molton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around South Molton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Molton | 6,226 | 30.5 | 9.1 | C+ |
| Chulmleigh | 1,232 | 18.6 | 9.2 | B |
| Landkey | 2,001 | 13.3 | 4 | A |
| Witheridge | 1,306 | 35.9 | 11.7 | C− |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 48 | 14.6 | D |
| Morchard Bishop | 1,041 | 5.9 | 1.8 | A+ |
South Molton records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 5 neighbours; only Witheridge and Barnstaple record more. Chulmleigh, 7.2 miles away, records 18.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against South Molton’s 30.5.
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 South Molton 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 South Molton
Is South Molton safe?
Police recorded 30.5 violent and sexual offences and 9.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside South Molton’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 36% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, South Molton is 400th from the least crime. 42% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in South Molton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 13%, shoplifting and theft rose 31% and anti-social behaviour fell 25%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in South Molton?
Violence & sexual offences: 199 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (41) and other theft (25), with 46 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does South Molton compare with Barnstaple?
Barnstaple records 48 violent and sexual offences and 14.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against South Molton’s 30.5 and 9.1, 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.