Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0Margate records more crime per resident than 94% of UK towns
Annual rates stand at 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. Violent crime here is higher than in 96% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 87%. Scored on crimes police recorded inside Margate’s built-up area across September 2023 to August 2026, the town lands on D for safety: #78 of 87 in Kent. Violence recorded locally dropped 12% 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 Margate
One ward carries much of the rate
Margate Central ward, where 40% of Margate’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 2,558 of Margate’s 10,627 violent and sexual offences in three years: 136.8 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Margate the figure is 46.2. Where in Margate ↓
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Margate than in the year before; across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 5% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 114 UK towns and cities of 44,000 to 85,000 people, Margate has the 92nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Scarborough, Bloxwich and Mansfield, higher than Oldbury, Willenhall and Chesterfield. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
45% of Margate’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 9% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: D for Margate
A firm grade. Built on 13,944 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Margate against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
45% of Margate residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
9% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 45% 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.
Margate’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.
Police in Margate identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 54% of Margate’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 7% 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. 4,856 crimes.
Towns its size: Margate comes 92nd of 114
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent | 51,215 | 30.7 | 13.1 | 18.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Ashford Kent | 82,143 | 40.4 | 14.6 | 20.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Sittingbourne Kent | 54,385 | 41.3 | 17.5 | 20.8 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 67 | Rochester Kent | 67,279 | 44.7 | 16.8 | 17.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | Oldbury West Midlands | 45,188 | 49.6 | 22.7 | 17.9 | D |
| 90 | Willenhall West Midlands | 49,582 | 44.1 | 28.8 | 21.6 | D |
| 91 | Chesterfield Derbyshire | 76,394 | 56.2 | 17.1 | 21.8 | D |
| 92 | Margate Kent | 63,315 | 56.1 | 17.5 | 17.1 | D |
| 93 | Chatham Kent | 76,956 | 54 | 20.6 | 20.8 | D |
| 94 | Weston-super-Mare Somerset | 84,600 | 57.4 | 17.2 | 20.8 | D |
| 95 | Havant Hampshire | 46,964 | 59.2 | 16.8 | 18.7 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 114 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Margate, and others in Kent.
Lowest recorded crime in Birchington North, Cliftonville East and Birchington South; highest in Margate Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birchington North | 3,881 | 10.9 | 4.4 | |
| Cliftonville East | 6,445 | 19.7 | 8.6 | |
| Birchington South | 6,505 | 29.9 | 9.5 | |
| Westgate-on-Sea | 7,514 | 39.8 | 11.7 | |
| Westbrook | 4,561 | 38.8 | 13.8 | |
| Garlinge | 4,988 | 44.2 | 14.4 | |
| Dane Valley | 7,847 | 54.1 | 19.1 | |
| Salmestone | 5,228 | 63.1 | 18.2 | |
| Cliftonville West | 9,924 | 81.8 | 22.4 | |
| Margate Central | 6,231 | 136.8 | 42 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 956 | 37% anti-social behaviour |
| Supermarkets | 746 | 69% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 562 | 38% drugs, public order & other |
| Shopping areas | 437 | 27% violent |
| Petrol stations | 291 | 78% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 109 | 55% anti-social behaviour |
| Nightclubs | 105 | 52% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 68 | 50% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Margate Central records 3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Margate. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Margate. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Margate’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Margate 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 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 16 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Margate has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -12% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -5% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +14% (towns its size -2%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Margate runs highest on drugs (5.6 per 1,000 against 3.8), criminal damage & arson (11 per 1,000 against 7.5) and other crime (3 per 1,000 against 2.1). Vehicle crime and burglary sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 3,063 | 48.4 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,561 | 24.7 | 17.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 698 | 11 | 7.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 489 | 7.7 | 10.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 458 | 7.2 | 6.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 364 | 5.7 | 7.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 356 | 5.6 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 226 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 189 | 3 | 2.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 143 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 92 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 77 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 57 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 28 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Four people died in collisions on Margate’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 484 collisions with injuries inside Margate in five years, in which four people died (3 were pedestrians). 118 people were killed or seriously injured: 40 on foot and 21 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Margate’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Margate’s own rate (1.3) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Margate had 37.3 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). 34% 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. 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 Margate’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Margate
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margate | 63,315 | 56.1 | 17.5 | D |
| Broadstairs | 25,780 | 31.6 | 13.5 | C |
| Ramsgate | 42,031 | 61.3 | 20.6 | D− |
| Minster (Thanet) | 4,739 | 46.2 | 13.3 | D |
| Cliffs End | 1,284 | 28.8 | 20 | C− |
| Sandwich | 4,258 | 42.7 | 15.9 | D |
| Ash (Dover) | 2,529 | 30.1 | 12.1 | C |
| Eastry | 2,388 | 19 | 7 | B+ |
Margate records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Ramsgate records more. Broadstairs, 2.8 miles away, records 31.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Margate’s 56.1.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 109 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Margate’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Margate 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 Margate
Is Margate safe?
Police recorded 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Margate’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 6% of UK towns. Among 114 UK towns of 44,000 to 85,000 people, Margate is 92nd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Margate?
By council ward, Birchington North, Cliftonville East and Birchington South record the least violent and household crime per resident: 10.9, 19.7 and 29.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 136.8 in Margate Central.
Is crime going up in Margate?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 5%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 14%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Margate town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 105 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 52% of them violent, and Margate Central ward records 136.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Margate?
Violence & sexual offences: 3,063 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (698) and shoplifting (489), with 1,561 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.