Photo: Peter S · CC BY-SA 2.0Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Saffron Walden records less crime per resident than 90%
Annual rates stand at 19.1 violent and sexual offences and 9.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. Violence recorded locally dropped 6% in a year. Overall, it grades B for safety (#17 of 81 in Essex).
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Saffron Walden
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% less violent crime per resident in Saffron Walden than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 19% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Saffron Walden has the 37th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne, Carterton and Herne, higher than Berkhamsted, Euxton and North Hykeham. 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. 20% of Saffron Walden’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.
Inside Saffron Walden’s B for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,398 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Saffron Walden against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
1 in 5 Saffron Walden residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
65% 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.
Saffron Walden’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
Shoplifting and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 316 | 19 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 88 | 5.3 | 12.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 74 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 52 | 3.1 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 48 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 46 | 2.8 | 6.1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 37 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 34 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 16 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 12 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 9 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Of 307 towns its size, Saffron Walden is 37th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Hockley and Hawkwell Essex | 15,430 | 14 | 7.9 | 4.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | South Woodham Ferrers Essex | 16,029 | 17.9 | 6.3 | 9.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 34 | Berkhamsted Hertfordshire | 21,236 | 16.3 | 11.4 | 10.1 | B |
| 35 | Euxton Lancashire | 17,519 | 21 | 6.9 | 4.3 | B |
| 36 | North Hykeham Lincolnshire | 16,855 | 21.4 | 6.6 | 9.4 | B |
| 37 | Saffron Walden Essex | 16,609 | 19.1 | 9 | 7.7 | B |
| 38 | Amersham Buckinghamshire | 17,377 | 18.6 | 9.7 | 9.5 | B |
| 39 | Knutsford Cheshire | 13,254 | 21.2 | 7.3 | 8.4 | B |
| 40 | Bishop's Cleeve Gloucestershire | 16,323 | 21 | 7.5 | 7 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 128 | Halstead Essex | 13,902 | 28.8 | 10.7 | 12 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Chigwell Essex | 12,251 | 24.1 | 17.8 | 5.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 307 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Saffron Walden, and others in Essex.
How crime in Saffron Walden has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 -6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -19% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +10% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +9% (towns its size -4%).
Crime in Saffron Walden 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 7 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.
Lowest recorded crime in Saffron Walden Shire, Saffron Walden Castle and Saffron Walden Audley; highest in Saffron Walden Audley
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saffron Walden Shire | 7,592 | 13.3 | 7.2 | |
| Saffron Walden Castle | 4,761 | 23.3 | 7 | |
| Saffron Walden Audley | 4,256 | 24.7 | 14.3 |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Saffron Walden’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 70% of Saffron Walden’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 8% 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. 459 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Saffron Walden’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 42 collisions with injuries inside Saffron Walden in five years. 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Saffron Walden’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Saffron Walden’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Saffron Walden had 14.5 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Saffron Walden’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Great Chesterford, 3.7 miles away, records 11.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Saffron Walden’s 19.1.
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
- 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 Saffron Walden 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 Saffron Walden
Is Saffron Walden safe?
Police recorded 19.1 violent and sexual offences and 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Saffron Walden’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 61% of UK towns. Among 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Saffron Walden is 37th from the least crime. 20% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Saffron Walden?
By council ward, Saffron Walden Shire, Saffron Walden Castle and Saffron Walden Audley record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13.3, 23.3 and 24.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 24.7 in Saffron Walden Audley.
Is crime going up in Saffron Walden?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 19%, shoplifting and theft rose 10% and anti-social behaviour rose 9%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Saffron Walden?
Violence & sexual offences: 316 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (74) and criminal damage & arson (52), with 88 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Saffron Walden compare with Haverhill?
Haverhill records 37.2 violent and sexual offences and 12.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Saffron Walden’s 19.1 and 9, 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.