Church of St Thomas · Photo: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0Southborough stands out for shoplifting: 3.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime was down 26% in a year. Its letter overall is B− (#26 of 87 in Kent): close to the middle of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. More crime per resident is recorded in 46% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. The yearly rates were 24.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Southborough
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 26% less violent crime per resident in Southborough 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 fell 24% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Southborough has the 155th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Catshill, Lutterworth and Chatteris, higher than Killamarsh, Market Weighton and Emsworth. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Southborough’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 993 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Southborough 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 Southborough 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 -26% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -24% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +7% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +12% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Southborough runs highest on shoplifting (5.8 per 1,000 against 1.8), other crime (2 per 1,000 against 1.5) and other theft (4 per 1,000 against 3.2). Anti-social behaviour and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 179 | 18.6 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 66 | 6.9 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 56 | 5.8 | 1.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 39 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 38 | 3.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 26 | 2.7 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 21 | 2.2 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 19 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 4 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| 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.
How Southborough’s neighbourhoods rank in England
10% 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.
Southborough’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.
Southborough against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Bearsted Kent | 8,349 | 14.8 | 7.1 | 4.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Kings Hill Kent | 9,963 | 15.9 | 8.1 | 5.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Otford and Kemsing Kent | 7,332 | 12.6 | 11.9 | 5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 90 | Rusthall and Langton Green Kent | 7,783 | 21.8 | 8.1 | 3.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 152 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | 9,082 | 23.5 | 10.5 | 3.1 | B− |
| 153 | Market Weighton East Riding of Yorkshire | 7,458 | 26.9 | 7.2 | 4.5 | B− |
| 154 | Emsworth Hampshire | 11,512 | 23.4 | 10.9 | 12.4 | B− |
| 155 | Southborough Kent | 9,632 | 24.6 | 9.8 | 8.4 | B− |
| 156 | Tiptree Essex | 9,302 | 26.3 | 8.2 | 5.8 | B− |
| 157 | Holbury Hampshire | 7,339 | 27 | 7.5 | 5 | B− |
| 158 | Ruddington Nottinghamshire | 7,491 | 23 | 11.6 | 5.5 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 411 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Southborough, and others in Kent.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 70% of Southborough’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (77% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% of violent and 4% 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. 401 crimes.
Crime in Southborough 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 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
One person died in collisions on Southborough’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 36 collisions with injuries inside Southborough in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 11 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Southborough’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Southborough had 22.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Southborough’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Southborough
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southborough | 9,632 | 24.6 | 9.8 | B− |
| Royal Tunbridge Wells | 51,215 | 30.7 | 13.1 | C |
| Rusthall and Langton Green | 7,783 | 21.8 | 8.1 | B |
| Pembury | 5,783 | 36.8 | 11.5 | C− |
| Tonbridge | 36,136 | 30.1 | 13.8 | C |
| Leigh | 1,104 | 13.3 | 5.4 | A |
| Hildenborough | 4,943 | 11.3 | 7.5 | A |
| Five Oak Green | 1,436 | 16.3 | 11.1 | B |
Southborough records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Rusthall and Langton Green, 2.1 miles away, records 21.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Southborough’s 24.6.
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
- 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 Southborough 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 Southborough
Is Southborough safe?
Police recorded 24.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Southborough’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 46% of UK towns. Among 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Southborough is 155th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Southborough?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 26%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 24%, shoplifting and theft rose 7% and anti-social behaviour rose 12%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Southborough?
Violence & sexual offences: 179 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (56) and other theft (39), with 66 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Southborough compare with Royal Tunbridge Wells?
Royal Tunbridge Wells records 30.7 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Southborough’s 24.6 and 9.8, 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.