Chapel of St Mary Including Boundary Walls Adjoining to North West · Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0Safety in South Zeal: figures, but no grade
Crimes police recorded inside South Zeal’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 are shown here, without a Safety Grade. With under 1,000 residents, South Zeal is too small to grade: a few incidents would move its rate a long way. In a usual year, 7.8 violent and sexual offences and 2.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in South Zeal
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 100% of South Zeal’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 police recorded in the last 12 months
Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 10 | 11.3 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 3 | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1 | 1.1 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 0 | 0 | 5.3 |
“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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Crime in South Zeal 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 2 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 0 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
10 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 4 the year before
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 1,000 to 2,500 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).
Crime in the places around South Zeal
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Zeal | 886 | 7.8 | 2.1 | — |
| Okehampton | 9,108 | 34.1 | 11.2 | C |
| Chagford | 1,107 | 12.2 | 3 | A |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 26.1 | 4.7 | B− |
| Bow | 1,122 | 11.7 | 5.5 | A |
| Moretonhampstead | 1,334 | 27.5 | 5.5 | B− |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 16 | 6.5 | A− |
| Copplestone | 1,475 | 21.2 | 5.4 | B+ |
South Zeal records less graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.
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 Zeal 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 Zeal
Is South Zeal safe?
Police recorded 7.8 violent and sexual offences and 2.1 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 Zeal’s built-up area). 100% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in South Zeal?
Police recorded 10 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 4 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in South Zeal?
Violence & sexual offences: 10 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (3) and criminal damage & arson (1), with 0 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) · 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.