Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Wareham records shoplifting at 3.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Shoplifting runs at 6.8 per 1,000 residents in Wareham, against 1.8 in a typical town its size: police recorded 40 in the 12 months to August 2026. Overall, it grades B− for safety (#17 of 30 in Dorset).
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Wareham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 10% more violent crime per resident in Wareham than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 47% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Wareham has the 265th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Wheathampstead, Virginia Water and Hoylake, higher than Elm and Emneth, Great Torrington and Whitchurch. 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. 21% of Wareham’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.
Wareham grades B− for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 541 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wareham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
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.
Against the typical town its size, Wareham runs highest on shoplifting (6.8 per 1,000 against 1.8), anti-social behaviour (15 per 1,000 against 8.8) and other theft (4.6 per 1,000 against 3.2). Violence & sexual offences and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 109 | 18.6 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 88 | 15 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 40 | 6.8 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 28 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 27 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 13 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 1.4 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 8 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| 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.
1 in 5 Wareham residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
Wareham’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.
46% 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.
Violent crime up 10% in a year, while towns its size held steady
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 +10% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -47% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +26% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +33% (towns its size +0%).
“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).
Wareham is 265th of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Wareham, and others in Dorset.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 3 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 65 | Ashley Heath Dorset | 7,151 | 10.9 | 10.4 | 4.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 126 | Wool Dorset | 5,044 | 19.3 | 5.4 | 4.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 262 | Elm and Emneth Norfolk | 4,555 | 21.1 | 10.2 | 4.6 | B− |
| 263 | Great Torrington Devon | 5,958 | 23.4 | 7.9 | 7.1 | B− |
| 264 | Whitchurch Hampshire | 5,291 | 22.6 | 8.7 | 4.5 | B− |
| 265 | Wareham Dorset | 5,876 | 19.6 | 11.7 | 12.8 | B− |
| 266 | Whaley Bridge Derbyshire | 4,618 | 22.4 | 9 | 9.5 | B− |
| 267 | Hullbridge Essex | 5,709 | 23 | 8.4 | 7.4 | B− |
| 268 | Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse Derbyshire | 4,447 | 22.6 | 8.8 | 4.9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 338 | Bearwood Dorset | 4,134 | 23.1 | 12.1 | 12 | 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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 19 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 12 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
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. 195 crimes.
No suspect was identified for 68% of Wareham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 2% of violent and 4% of household crimes reached court.
No one died in a collision on Wareham’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Wareham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 21 collisions with injuries inside Wareham in five years. 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 3 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 Wareham is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Wareham’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; Wareham had 5.
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.
Crime in the places around Wareham
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wareham | 5,876 | 19.6 | 11.7 | B− |
| Sandford | 2,004 | 11.3 | 5.5 | A |
| Wool | 5,044 | 19.3 | 5.4 | B+ |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 12 | 5.3 | A |
| Upton | 8,401 | 19.4 | 10.6 | B |
| Bere Regis | 1,320 | 20.7 | 7.8 | B |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 11.9 | 7 | A |
| Poole | 141,009 | 26.2 | 14.4 | C |
Wareham records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Poole records more. Sandford, 1.2 miles away, records 11.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wareham’s 19.6.
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 Wareham 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 Wareham
Is Wareham safe?
Police recorded 19.6 violent and sexual offences and 11.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wareham’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 53% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Wareham is 265th from the least crime. 21% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Wareham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 10%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 47%, shoplifting and theft rose 26% and anti-social behaviour rose 33%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wareham?
Violence & sexual offences: 109 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (40) and criminal damage & arson (28), with 88 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wareham compare with Bournemouth?
Bournemouth records 37.1 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Wareham’s 19.6 and 11.7, 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.