Photo: Colin Riegels / Legis at en.wikipedia · Public domainWheathampstead sees more burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident than 63% of UK towns
Police counts work out at 20.2 violent and sexual offences and 11.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. Vehicle crime stands out: 3.5 per 1,000 residents in Wheathampstead, against 2 in a typical town its size, with 16 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Taking everything together, Wheathampstead scores B− (#21 of 50 in Hertfordshire): close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violent crime was up 18% 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 Wheathampstead
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 18% more violent crime per resident in Wheathampstead than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 8% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Wheathampstead has the 334th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lisnaskea, Pulborough and Marchwood, higher than Whaley Bridge, Hullbridge and Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse. 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. 25% of Wheathampstead’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.
The B− for Wheathampstead, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 427 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wheathampstead 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 4 Wheathampstead 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.
Wheathampstead’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.
How crime in Wheathampstead 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 +18% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +8% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour +55% (towns its size +0%).
Police in Wheathampstead identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Wheathampstead’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (75% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 0% 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. 118 crimes.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Wheathampstead runs highest on vehicle crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 2), criminal damage & arson (7.7 per 1,000 against 4.5) and anti-social behaviour (13.7 per 1,000 against 8.8). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 107 | 23.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 62 | 13.7 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 35 | 7.7 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 18 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Public order | not graded | 12 | 2.7 | 3.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 0.9 | 1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 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.
Wheathampstead places 334th of 706 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Oaklands Hertfordshire | 3,960 | 10.9 | 5.9 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 66 | Moor Park Hertfordshire | 5,850 | 10.2 | 8.5 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire | 3,861 | 13 | 10.8 | 3.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 197 | Bricket Wood Hertfordshire | 4,624 | 17.9 | 8.2 | 3.4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 331 | Whaley Bridge Derbyshire | 4,618 | 22.4 | 9 | 9.5 | B− |
| 332 | Hullbridge Essex | 5,709 | 23 | 8.4 | 7.4 | B− |
| 333 | Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse Derbyshire | 4,447 | 22.6 | 8.8 | 4.9 | B− |
| 334 | Wheathampstead Hertfordshire | 4,523 | 20.2 | 11.3 | 5.5 | B− |
| 335 | Virginia Water Surrey | 5,185 | 19.8 | 11.7 | 10.1 | B− |
| 336 | Hoylake Merseyside | 5,311 | 23.1 | 8.4 | 10.1 | B− |
| 337 | Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire | 4,388 | 22.8 | 8.7 | 4.3 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | 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 Wheathampstead, and others in Hertfordshire.
Crime in Wheathampstead 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 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 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 Wheathampstead’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Wheathampstead in five years. 1 person was 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 Wheathampstead is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Wheathampstead’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Wheathampstead had 1.
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 Wheathampstead’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wheathampstead
Wheathampstead records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Harpenden, 2.6 miles away, records 11.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wheathampstead’s 20.2.
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 Wheathampstead 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 Wheathampstead
Is Wheathampstead safe?
Police recorded 20.2 violent and sexual offences and 11.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wheathampstead’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 52% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Wheathampstead is 334th from the least crime. 25% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Wheathampstead?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 18%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 8%, shoplifting and theft rose 28% and anti-social behaviour rose 55%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wheathampstead?
Violence & sexual offences: 107 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (35) and other theft (18), with 62 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wheathampstead compare with St Albans?
St Albans records 25.3 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Wheathampstead’s 20.2 and 11.3, 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.