Photo: Ian Hawfinch · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime in the Glasgow City council area is 49% above Scotland’s rate
Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes street by street, so Glasgow has no Safety Grade and no overall grade until the 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation brings neighbourhood crime figures. What Scotland does publish: crime for the whole Glasgow City council area (849 crimes per 10,000 people in 2025-26), and how Glasgow’s own neighbourhoods rank for crime.
What stands out about safety in Glasgow
Crime down over ten years
Recorded crime across the Glasgow City council area went from 899 to 849 per 10,000 people between 2016-17 and 2025-26; across Scotland it moved +3%. Ten years ↓
More crime-deprived neighbourhoods than most
37% of Glasgow’s residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s small areas with the most crime on SIMD 2020, and 4% in the fifth with the least. Its rate of SIMD crimes, 424 per 10,000 in 2017/18, is 54% above Scotland’s. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the Scottish Government’s recorded crime and SIMD figures on this page.
Fewest SIMD crimes in Mount Vernon North and Sandyhills; most in City Centre South
| Area | Residents | Per 10,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon North and Sandyhills | 3,403 | 91 | |
| Darnley West | 5,151 | 111 | |
| Pollok South and West | 6,232 | 111 | |
| Muirend and Old Cathcart | 4,752 | 133 | |
| Kelvindale | 6,328 | 136 | |
| Garrowhill East and Swinton | 4,023 | 142 | |
| Baillieston East | 7,710 | 156 | |
| Parkhead West and Barrowfield | 7,193 | 876 | |
| Laurieston and Tradeston | 5,949 | 884 | |
| Springburn East and Cowlairs | 3,914 | 950 | |
| Wyndford | 3,949 | 980 | |
| Sighthill | 816 | 1,054 | |
| City Centre West | 6,277 | 1,169 | |
| City Centre South | 3,888 | 5,021 |
93 of Glasgow’s 136 areas are at or above Scotland’s rate of 276 (orange bars). SIMD counts crimes where they were recorded, so an area with a town centre, a station or a hospital records more than its own residents suffer.
SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, by small area (2011 data zones, grouped by the names the Scottish Government gives them), fewest first. The seven lowest and seven highest of 136.
Glasgow is 14th of 15 Scottish towns of 46,209 to 617,904
| # | Town | People | SIMD crimes per 10,000 | In the most crime-deprived fifth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Kilbride South Lanarkshire | 76,626 | 214 | 11% |
| 2 | Dunfermline Fife | 56,053 | 247 | 18% |
| … | ||||
| 11 | Aberdeen Aberdeen City | 192,968 | 382 | 28% |
| 12 | Kirkcaldy and Dysart Fife | 51,135 | 383 | 41% |
| 13 | Paisley Renfrewshire | 79,351 | 395 | 35% |
| 14 | Glasgow Glasgow City | 617,904 | 424 | 37% |
| 15 | Inverness Highland | 48,257 | 450 | 30% |
SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, counting from the fewest: the towns either side of Glasgow, and the ends of the list. Described, not graded.
37% of Glasgow residents live in one of Scotland’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
9% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Scotland’s neighbourhoods, and 37% in the highest-crime 20%. Glasgow counted 424 SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, 54% above Scotland’s 276; three years before, 481 (-12%, Scotland -9%).
Scottish Government, SIMD 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (crimes of violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault, 2014/15 and 2017/18). Residents from Scotland’s Census 2022 output areas.
Glasgow’s residents by the crime decile of their small area (2011 data zone, about 800 people) in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Scotland’s 6,976 data zones and 10 the lowest.
What police recorded in the Glasgow City council area in 2025-26
Against Scotland, the Glasgow City council area runs highest on drug supply (20 per 10,000 against 9), robbery (5 per 10,000 against 3) and shoplifting (150 per 10,000 against 96).
Show every crime group as a table
| Group | Recorded | Per 10,000 | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-sexual crimes of violence | 12,567 | 193 | 136 |
| Sexual crimes | 2,454 | 38 | 30 |
| Crimes of dishonesty (theft, housebreaking, fraud) | 20,167 | 310 | 213 |
| Damage and reckless behaviour (vandalism, fire-raising) | 5,244 | 81 | 69 |
| Crimes against society (drugs, weapons, justice) | 14,761 | 227 | 121 |
| Antisocial offences (disorder, threatening behaviour) | 10,458 | 161 | 93 |
Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crimes and offences by council area. Groups 1 to 5 are crimes; group 6, antisocial offences, is offences.
Per 10,000 people. The tick on each bar is Scotland’s rate. Every town in the council area shares these figures.
Recorded crime down 6% since 2016-17
Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2016-17 to the newest year. Since April 2019 violence includes the new crime of domestic abuse under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.
Per 10,000 people each year, the Glasgow City council area against Scotland. 2016-17 to 2025-26: all crimes -6% (Scotland +3%), violence +0%.
Police in the Glasgow City council area clear up crime about as often as across Scotland
Violence and drugs crimes are cleared up most often, because they are usually recorded with a suspect in view; housebreaking, theft and vandalism least.
Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crime clear-up rates by council area.
Share of crimes recorded in 2025-26 that were cleared up: a suspect identified and enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal. The tick is Scotland.
For every 1,000 people in the Glasgow City council area, about 23 violent or sexual crimes in 2025-26
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can suffer several, and crimes in a city centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 10 housebreakings, car thefts or acts of vandalism and fire-raising, plus 29 other thefts and frauds. Each dot is one person; each coloured dot is one recorded crime. These are council-wide figures: every town in the Glasgow City council area shares them.
45 people died in collisions on Glasgow’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2,900 collisions with injuries inside Glasgow in five years, in which 45 people died (29 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists). 1,148 people were killed or seriously injured: 435 on foot and 162 on a bicycle. Three people were killed on a motorway.
That is 1.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Glasgow had 37.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 38% 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; the towns its size are England and Wales’s. There’s no national rate here: more than two thirds of Scotland’s road deaths (70%) happen outside every town’s locality boundary. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Glasgow’s locality, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Glasgow
| Town | People | SIMD crimes per 10,000 | Most crime-deprived fifth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow | 617,904 | 424 | 37% |
| Rutherglen | 31,185 | 305 | 23% |
| Bishopbriggs | 23,759 | 165 | 12% |
| Netherlee | 4,493 | 77 | 0% |
| Giffnock | 11,963 | 147 | 4% |
| Thornliebank | 4,084 | 308 | 43% |
| Stamperland | 3,497 | 213 | 0% |
| Renfrew | 23,812 | 256 | 25% |
Glasgow counted more SIMD crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Rutherglen, 3.5 miles away, counted 305 per 10,000, against Glasgow’s 424.
SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18. The map colours each town by the quarter of Scotland’s towns it falls in; they are not grades. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Council areas, not towns. Recorded crime and clear-up rates are published for each of Scotland’s 32 council areas, so every town in the Glasgow City council area shares them. A city centre and a quiet village in the same council show the same figures.
- SIMD crime is town-level, but old. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counts selected crimes (violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault) in each small area. SIMD 2020 uses crimes from 2017/18; SIMD 2026, due at the end of 2026, will bring newer figures; we plan to grade Scottish safety on them.
- Not a grade. Nothing on this page is graded. The towns-its-size ranking and the neighbours’ colours describe SIMD crime rates; they aren’t a Safety Grade and don’t feed one.
- Recorded, not experienced. Recorded crime is what the police record. It moves with reporting and policing as well as with crime; the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey asks people directly, for Scotland as a whole.
Questions about safety in Glasgow
Is Glasgow safe?
Police Scotland recorded 849 crimes per 10,000 people across the Glasgow City council area in 2025-26, 49% above Scotland’s 569. Within Glasgow, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counted 424 of its selected crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, against 276 across Scotland; 37% of residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s neighbourhoods with the most crime. Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Glasgow has no Safety Grade.
How many crimes are solved in the Glasgow City council area?
55% of crimes recorded in 2025-26 were cleared up (someone was identified and there was enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal), against 57% across Scotland.
Why doesn’t Glasgow have a Safety Grade?
Our Safety Grade counts crimes inside each town’s boundary. Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes by location for reuse, so Scottish towns can’t be measured the same way. The 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation will bring newer neighbourhood crime figures.
Sources: Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the NRS 2022 locality 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.