Photo: Griffp · CC BY-SA 4.0Safety in Swindon: figures, but no grade
Crimes police recorded inside Swindon’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 are shown here, without a Safety Grade. This Gloucestershire town has fewer than 1,000 residents, and Safety is graded only from 1,000, where a handful of incidents no longer moves the rate a long way. Annual rates stand at 13.6 violent and sexual offences and 14.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
Crime in Swindon 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 10 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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 3 | 5.8 | 16.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 5.8 | 1.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 1 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1 | 1.9 | 5.3 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| 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 |
“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 the places around Swindon
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swindon | 517 | 13.6 | 14.4 | — |
| Cheltenham | 115,941 | 35.2 | 17.3 | C− |
| Bishop's Cleeve | 16,323 | 21 | 7.5 | B |
| Prestbury | 4,078 | 10.9 | 6.8 | A |
| Gotherington | 1,131 | 9.5 | 5.9 | A |
| Shurdington | 1,888 | 18 | 6.1 | B+ |
| Churchdown | 13,480 | 27.5 | 6 | B− |
| Tewkesbury | 14,387 | 32.8 | 12.2 | C |
Swindon records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Prestbury, 2.5 miles away, records 10.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Swindon’s 13.6.
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. Gloucestershire Police published February 2026, March 2026, April 2026, May 2026, June 2026, July 2026 and August 2026 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 Swindon 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 Swindon
Is Swindon safe?
Police recorded 13.6 violent and sexual offences and 14.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Swindon’s built-up area).
What is the most common crime in Swindon?
Violence & sexual offences: 3 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came burglary (3) and criminal damage & arson (1), with 1 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Swindon compare with Gloucester?
Gloucester records 58.3 violent and sexual offences and 17.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Swindon’s 13.6 and 14.4, 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) · 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.