Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Chelmsford records more violent crime per head than 89% of UK towns
From September 2023 to August 2026, crimes police recorded inside Chelmsford’s built-up area put it at D for safety: #67 of 81 in Essex. For every 1,000 residents, 44.5 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year. Of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, 49% record more crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Chelmsford
One ward carries much of the rate
Moulsham and Central ward, where 45% of Chelmsford’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 4,687 of Chelmsford’s 14,730 violent and sexual offences in three years: 120.6 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Chelmsford the figure is 33.8. Where in Chelmsford ↓
About the middle for a city its size
Of 58 UK towns and cities of 77,000 to 149,000 people, Chelmsford has the 25th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Worcester, Maidstone and Eastbourne, higher than Gillingham, Guildford and Derry City. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Chelmsford’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 19,754 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Chelmsford against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Lowest recorded crime in Moulsham Lodge, The Lawns and Goat Hall; highest in Moulsham and Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moulsham Lodge | 5,653 | 14.3 | 8.1 | |
| The Lawns | 5,435 | 14.8 | 7.7 | |
| Goat Hall | 5,813 | 17.1 | 10.6 | |
| Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon | 642 | 22.3 | 7.3 | |
| Springfield North | 10,541 | 25.2 | 8.9 | |
| Great Baddow East | 8,514 | 26 | 12.9 | |
| Great Baddow West | 6,442 | 30.9 | 13 | |
| Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park | 10,842 | 33.5 | 11.1 | |
| Patching Hall | 9,074 | 31.6 | 14.8 | |
| Trinity | 6,739 | 45.1 | 9.9 | |
| Waterhouse Farm | 6,601 | 42.8 | 16.1 | |
| St Andrews | 9,285 | 44.7 | 14.5 | |
| Broomfield and The Walthams | 2,904 | 56.2 | 19.3 | |
| Marconi | 8,764 | 58.2 | 18.1 | |
| Moulsham and Central | 12,954 | 120.6 | 30.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 2,649 | 46% violent |
| Supermarkets | 2,223 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 2,131 | 44% violent |
| Shopping areas | 1,804 | 63% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 698 | 41% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 676 | 42% violent |
| Prisons | 652 | 70% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 363 | 61% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 130 | 52% violent |
| Hospitals | 84 | 35% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Moulsham and Central records 3.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Chelmsford. 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 Chelmsford. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Chelmsford’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Chelmsford 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 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 21 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Chelmsford runs highest on drugs (5.6 per 1,000 against 3.8), shoplifting (12.8 per 1,000 against 10.3) and bicycle theft (1 per 1,000 against 0.9). Burglary and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 4,669 | 42.2 | 38.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,416 | 12.8 | 10.3 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,251 | 11.3 | 17.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 782 | 7.1 | 7.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 721 | 6.5 | 6.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 673 | 6.1 | 7.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 624 | 5.6 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 453 | 4.1 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 299 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 235 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 126 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 124 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 115 | 1 | 0.9 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 95 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
How Chelmsford’s neighbourhoods rank in England
29% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 21% 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.
Chelmsford’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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 74% of Chelmsford’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 16% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (58% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 7% 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. 7,160 crimes.
Set against 58 towns its size, Chelmsford is 25th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poole Dorset | 141,009 | 26.2 | 14.4 | 12.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Gillingham Kent | 108,485 | 42.7 | 16.7 | 14.9 | D |
| 23 | Guildford Surrey | 77,870 | 44.3 | 15.2 | 23.7 | D |
| 24 | Derry City Derry City and Strabane | 85,279 | 43.4 | 16.1 | 12.9 | D |
| 25 | Chelmsford Essex | 110,612 | 44.5 | 15.2 | 21 | D |
| 26 | Nuneaton Warwickshire | 88,818 | 42.7 | 18.5 | 15.9 | D |
| 27 | Exeter Devon | 126,181 | 47.6 | 14.5 | 25.3 | D |
| 28 | Blackburn Lancashire | 124,958 | 44.5 | 18.3 | 15.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 33 | Harlow Essex | 93,570 | 45.5 | 20.5 | 19.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Colchester Essex | 130,259 | 51.1 | 17.1 | 20.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Basildon Essex | 115,935 | 54.2 | 24.2 | 19.8 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 58 | Middlesbrough North Yorkshire | 148,232 | 70.8 | 40.1 | 30.1 | 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 Chelmsford, and others in Essex.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +2% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles +1% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +7% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +60% (towns its size -2%).
Three people died in collisions on Chelmsford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 663 collisions with injuries inside Chelmsford in five years, in which three people died (1 was a cyclist). 155 people were killed or seriously injured: 43 on foot and 23 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Chelmsford’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Chelmsford’s own rate (0.5) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Chelmsford had 28.0 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 28% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Chelmsford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Chelmsford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelmsford | 110,612 | 44.5 | 15.2 | D |
| Writtle | 4,703 | 17.4 | 11.5 | B |
| Broomfield | 3,491 | 95.6 | 26.8 | D− |
| Galleywood | 6,410 | 26.9 | 12.1 | C+ |
| Boreham | 3,561 | 26 | 11 | C+ |
| Little Waltham | 1,038 | 21.2 | 11.9 | B− |
| Danbury | 6,196 | 15.6 | 8.9 | B+ |
| Stock | 1,573 | 22.7 | 14 | C+ |
Chelmsford records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Broomfield records more. Writtle, 2.4 miles away, records 17.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Chelmsford’s 44.5.
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
- A prison inside the boundary. police.uk counted 652 at or near a prison (70% violent) and 84 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Chelmsford’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Chelmsford 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 Chelmsford
Is Chelmsford safe?
Police recorded 44.5 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Chelmsford’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 12% of UK towns. Among 58 UK towns of 77,000 to 149,000 people, Chelmsford is 25th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Chelmsford?
By council ward, Moulsham Lodge, The Lawns and Goat Hall record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.3, 14.8 and 17.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 120.6 in Moulsham and Central.
Is crime going up in Chelmsford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 7% and anti-social behaviour rose 60%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Chelmsford city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 2,131 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 44% of them violent, and Moulsham and Central ward records 120.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Chelmsford?
Violence & sexual offences: 4,669 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (1,416) and public order (782), with 1,251 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) · 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.