Photo: Peter Facey · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Swanmore records less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than three in four UK towns
Swanmore grades B+ for safety overall (#20 of 76 in Hampshire): less crime per resident than 68% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The yearly rates were 19.3 violent and sexual offences and 6.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Violent crime was down 27% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Swanmore
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 27% less violent crime per resident in Swanmore than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Swanmore has the 320th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Gilberdyke, Comberton and Great Leighs, higher than St Agnes, Swineshead and Gamlingay. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The B+ for Swanmore, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 239 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Swanmore against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Swanmore has moved
“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).
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 -27% (towns its size +1%).
How Swanmore’s neighbourhoods rank in England
57% 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.
Swanmore’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
Anti-social behaviour and violence & sexual offences sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 46 | 14.8 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 23 | 7.4 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 13 | 4.2 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 8 | 2.6 | 2 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 1.9 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 5 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 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.
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.
Set against 856 towns its size, Swanmore is 320th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| 2 | South Wonston Hampshire | 2,686 | 5.5 | 3.7 | 2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Charlton Hampshire | 2,121 | 10.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Bransgore Hampshire | 3,688 | 11.4 | 6.2 | 4.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 110 | Woolton Hill and Highclere Hampshire | 2,755 | 11 | 6.9 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 317 | St Agnes Cornwall | 3,253 | 18.8 | 6.7 | 2.9 | B+ |
| 318 | Swineshead Lincolnshire | 2,653 | 20.9 | 4.7 | 5.8 | B+ |
| 319 | Gamlingay Cambridgeshire | 2,920 | 19 | 6.6 | 4.2 | B+ |
| 320 | Swanmore Hampshire | 3,113 | 19.3 | 6.3 | 3.1 | B+ |
| 321 | Puriton Somerset | 2,265 | 19.6 | 6 | 1.8 | B+ |
| 322 | South Milford North Yorkshire | 2,409 | 19.5 | 6.1 | 10.7 | B+ |
| 323 | Weldon Northamptonshire | 3,042 | 17.9 | 7.8 | 4.7 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Swanmore, and others in Hampshire.
Crime in Swanmore 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 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Swanmore’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 12 collisions with injuries inside Swanmore in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Swanmore is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Swanmore’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Swanmore had 2.
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 Swanmore’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Swanmore
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanmore | 3,113 | 19.3 | 6.3 | B+ |
| Waltham Chase | 2,830 | 16 | 4.7 | A− |
| Bishop's Waltham | 6,957 | 25.2 | 8.3 | B− |
| Wickham | 2,170 | 39.9 | 14.1 | C− |
| Knowle | 1,487 | 54.3 | 14.1 | D |
| Botley | 5,900 | 38.9 | 13.5 | C− |
| Whiteley | 9,350 | 29.3 | 10 | C+ |
| Horton Heath | 3,047 | 12.1 | 6 | A |
Swanmore records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Waltham Chase, 1.1 miles away, records 16 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Swanmore’s 19.3.
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 Swanmore 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 Swanmore
Is Swanmore safe?
Police recorded 19.3 violent and sexual offences and 6.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Swanmore’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 68% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Swanmore is 320th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Swanmore?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 27%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 50%, shoplifting and theft rose 117% and anti-social behaviour rose 188%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Swanmore?
Violence & sexual offences: 46 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (13) and other theft (8), with 23 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Swanmore compare with Eastleigh?
Eastleigh records 37.8 violent and sexual offences and 10.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Swanmore’s 19.3 and 6.3, 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.