Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0On burglary, vehicle crime and damage, Upchurch has a lower rate per resident than 87% of UK towns
Taking everything together, Upchurch scores A−: less crime per resident than 76% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Anti-social behaviour stands out: 9.8 per 1,000 residents in the town, against 5.3 in a typical town its size, with 17 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. The local count comes to 17.8 violent and sexual offences and 5.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Upchurch
About the middle for a village its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Upchurch has the 538th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Seascale, Southfields and Ketton, higher than Crowlas, Grovesend and Southery. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Upchurch’s A− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 118 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Upchurch against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Upchurch runs highest on anti-social behaviour (9.8 per 1,000 against 5.3). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 24 | 13.9 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 17 | 9.8 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 6 | 3.5 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 4 | 2.3 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 2 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Crime in Upchurch 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 6 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.
Towns its size: Upchurch comes 538th of 1,214
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Plaxtol Kent | 1,137 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 1.2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Challock Kent | 1,089 | 5.2 | 3.1 | 2.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 77 | Lympne Kent | 1,074 | 9.3 | 2.5 | 2.2 | A+ |
| 78 | Guston Kent | 1,684 | 7.5 | 4.4 | 3.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 535 | Crowlas Cornwall | 1,054 | 16.9 | 5.9 | 2.1 | A− |
| 536 | Grovesend West Glamorgan | 1,148 | 17.8 | 4.9 | 0.3 | A− |
| 537 | Southery Norfolk | 1,258 | 17.8 | 5 | 2.9 | A− |
| 538 | Upchurch Kent | 1,727 | 17.8 | 5 | 6 | A− |
| 539 | Lidlington Bedfordshire | 1,300 | 19.5 | 3.3 | 1 | A− |
| 540 | North Chailey East Sussex | 1,008 | 13.9 | 8.9 | 2.6 | A− |
| 541 | Heighington County Durham | 1,548 | 15.3 | 7.5 | 2.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Upchurch, and others in Kent.
26 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 38 the year before
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 -32% (towns its size +3%).
No one died in a collision on Upchurch’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 8 collisions with injuries inside Upchurch in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Upchurch is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Upchurch’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Upchurch 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 Upchurch’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Upchurch
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upchurch | 1,727 | 17.8 | 5 | A− |
| Lower Halstow | 1,210 | 10.5 | 7.2 | A |
| Newington | 2,691 | 40.4 | 14.9 | C− |
| Gillingham | 108,485 | 42.7 | 16.7 | D |
| Iwade | 4,533 | 15.2 | 5.7 | A− |
| Sittingbourne | 54,385 | 41.3 | 17.5 | D |
| Hoo St Werburgh | 8,758 | 37.4 | 10.9 | C− |
| Chatham | 76,956 | 54 | 20.6 | D |
Upchurch records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Lower Halstow, 0.9 miles away, records 10.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Upchurch’s 17.8.
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 Upchurch 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 Upchurch
Is Upchurch safe?
Police recorded 17.8 violent and sexual offences and 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 Upchurch’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 76% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Upchurch is 538th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Upchurch?
Police recorded 26 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 38 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Upchurch?
Violence & sexual offences: 24 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (6) and other theft (5), with 17 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Upchurch compare with Gillingham?
Gillingham records 42.7 violent and sexual offences and 16.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Upchurch’s 17.8 and 5, 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.