Photo: John Fielding from Norwich, UK · CC BY 2.0Ramsgate records more crime per resident than 97% of UK towns
On crimes police recorded inside Ramsgate’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades D− for safety: #82 of 87 in Kent.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Ramsgate
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 7% less violent crime per resident in Ramsgate than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 14% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
75% of Ramsgate’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 3% 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.
Ramsgate grades D− for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A firm grade. Built on 10,279 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Ramsgate against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
75% of Ramsgate residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
Ramsgate’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.
3% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 75% 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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Against the typical town its size, Ramsgate runs highest on drugs (6.3 per 1,000 against 1.9), robbery (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.5) and other crime (4 per 1,000 against 1.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 2,330 | 55.4 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,095 | 26.1 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 483 | 11.5 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 483 | 11.5 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 375 | 8.9 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 263 | 6.3 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 221 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 169 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 167 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 95 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 65 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 58 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 29 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 26 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
“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.
How Ramsgate compares with UK towns of 29,000 to 57,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Ramsgate, and others in Kent.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Whitstable Kent | 32,185 | 27.1 | 13.3 | 19.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 49 | Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent | 51,215 | 30.7 | 13.1 | 18.3 | C |
| 50 | Tonbridge Kent | 36,136 | 30.1 | 13.8 | 17.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 105 | Sittingbourne Kent | 54,385 | 41.3 | 17.5 | 20.8 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 154 | Shipley West Yorkshire | 29,228 | 57 | 23.9 | 18.5 | D− |
| 155 | Bootle Merseyside | 53,722 | 61.5 | 19.9 | 15.9 | D− |
| 156 | Llanelli Dyfed | 42,143 | 60.2 | 21.3 | 18 | D− |
| 157 | Ramsgate Kent | 42,031 | 61.3 | 20.6 | 22.8 | D− |
| 158 | Torquay Devon | 52,034 | 62.6 | 20.2 | 23.6 | D− |
| 159 | Accrington Lancashire | 34,897 | 58.5 | 24.8 | 22.3 | D− |
| 160 | Canterbury Kent | 55,107 | 61.9 | 23.2 | 37.8 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 168 | Eston North Yorkshire | 29,625 | 62.1 | 42.7 | 27.4 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
For every 1,000 residents, about 58 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 18 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 22 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
Police in Ramsgate identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
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. 3,577 crimes.
No suspect was identified for 61% of Ramsgate’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 16% 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 6% of violent and 4% of household crimes reached court.
Violent crime down 7% in a year, while towns its size held steady
Rolling six-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 -7% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -14% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -5% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +26% (towns its size -4%).
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Lowest recorded crime in Cliffsend and Pegwell, Nethercourt and Sir Moses Montefiore; highest in Eastcliff
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Ramsgate’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliffsend and Pegwell | 2,993 | 25.8 | 11 | |
| Nethercourt | 4,836 | 36.9 | 12 | |
| Sir Moses Montefiore | 5,081 | 34.3 | 16 | |
| Northwood | 6,599 | 65.4 | 22.9 | |
| Central Harbour | 8,401 | 67.9 | 25.2 | |
| Newington | 5,705 | 78.6 | 22 | |
| Eastcliff | 8,286 | 81.2 | 23 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 1,053 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 764 | 51% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 553 | 30% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 326 | 37% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 263 | 46% violent |
| Car parks | 218 | 35% violent |
| Nightclubs | 217 | 59% violent |
| Ferry terminals | 20 | 75% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Ramsgate. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Three people died in collisions on Ramsgate’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Ramsgate’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 358 collisions with injuries inside Ramsgate in five years, in which three people died (2 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist). 99 people were killed or seriously injured: 37 on foot and 15 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Ramsgate’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Ramsgate’s own rate (1.4) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Ramsgate had 47.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 37% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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.
Crime in the places around Ramsgate
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsgate | 42,031 | 61.3 | 20.6 | D− |
| Broadstairs | 25,780 | 31.6 | 13.5 | C |
| Cliffs End | 1,284 | 28.8 | 20 | C− |
| Margate | 63,315 | 56.1 | 17.5 | D |
| Minster (Thanet) | 4,739 | 46.2 | 13.3 | D |
| Sandwich | 4,258 | 42.7 | 15.9 | D |
| Ash (Dover) | 2,529 | 30.1 | 12.1 | C |
| Eastry | 2,388 | 19 | 7 | B+ |
Ramsgate records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Broadstairs, 1.7 miles away, records 31.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Ramsgate’s 61.3.
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 Ramsgate 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 Ramsgate
Is Ramsgate safe?
Police recorded 61.3 violent and sexual offences and 20.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Ramsgate’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 3% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Ramsgate has less crime per resident than 5%.
What are the safest areas of Ramsgate?
By council ward, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Nethercourt and Sir Moses Montefiore record the least violent and household crime per resident: 25.8, 36.9 and 34.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 81.2 in Eastcliff.
Is crime going up in Ramsgate?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 7%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 14%, shoplifting and theft fell 5% and anti-social behaviour rose 26%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Ramsgate town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 217 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 59% of them violent, and Eastcliff ward records 81.2 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 September.
What is the most common crime in Ramsgate?
Violence & sexual offences: 2,330 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (483) and criminal damage & arson (483), with 1,095 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Ramsgate compare with Margate?
Margate records 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Ramsgate’s 61.3 and 20.6, 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.