Photo: Neil Theasby · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Boston than in 92% of UK towns
Bicycle theft: police recorded 127 in Boston in the 12 months to August 2026, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against 0.3 in a typical town its size. Per 1,000 residents a year, 50.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #53 of 61 in Lincolnshire.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Boston
One ward carries much of the rate
Station ward recorded 1,262 of Boston’s 6,890 violent and sexual offences in three years: 155.7 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Boston the figure is 43.9. Where in Boston ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 151 UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000 people, Boston has the 121st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Cwmbrân, Tipton and Smethwick, higher than Batley, Wellingborough and Gravesend. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: D for Boston
A firm grade. Built on 9,285 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Boston 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, Boston runs highest on bicycle theft (2.8 per 1,000 against 0.3), robbery (1.8 per 1,000 against 0.5) and anti-social behaviour (29.4 per 1,000 against 12.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 2,132 | 47 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,333 | 29.4 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 651 | 14.4 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 415 | 9.2 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 348 | 7.7 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 284 | 6.3 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 242 | 5.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 171 | 3.8 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 150 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 143 | 3.2 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 127 | 2.8 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 81 | 1.8 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 47 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 17 | 0.4 | 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.
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.
Lowest recorded crime in West, Fishtoft and Wyberton; highest in Station
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | 2,190 | 13.5 | 5.3 | |
| Fishtoft | 5,314 | 21.6 | 7.4 | |
| Wyberton | 5,013 | 35.9 | 9.3 | |
| Staniland | 4,304 | 36.9 | 12.9 | |
| Fenside | 5,103 | 36.7 | 14.1 | |
| Skirbeck | 8,273 | 39.8 | 14 | |
| St Thomas' | 2,530 | 46.5 | 20.8 | |
| Trinity | 5,298 | 71.7 | 28.1 | |
| Witham | 4,620 | 81.6 | 25.6 | |
| Station | 2,702 | 155.7 | 50.8 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 1,126 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 717 | 29% violent |
| Supermarkets | 652 | 66% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 565 | 49% violent |
| Petrol stations | 279 | 73% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 261 | 42% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 195 | 29% violent |
| Nightclubs | 171 | 54% shoplifting & theft |
| Bus and coach stations | 107 | 45% violent |
| College and university buildings | 65 | 51% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Station records 3.5× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Boston. 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 Boston. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Boston’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Towns its size: Boston comes 121st of 151
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Grantham Lincolnshire | 44,906 | 39.6 | 15.7 | 20.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 118 | Batley West Yorkshire | 44,494 | 48.3 | 19.3 | 15.1 | D |
| 119 | Wellingborough Northamptonshire | 54,421 | 48.9 | 19.1 | 21.7 | D |
| 120 | Gravesend Kent | 58,105 | 45.1 | 23.1 | 17.7 | D |
| 121 | Boston Lincolnshire | 45,347 | 50.7 | 17.6 | 26.7 | D |
| 122 | Wallsend Tyne and Wear | 45,351 | 47.6 | 21.7 | 23 | D |
| 123 | Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria | 55,260 | 54.1 | 15.9 | 13.3 | D |
| 124 | Brierley Hill West Midlands | 32,311 | 47.5 | 22.6 | 29.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | 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 Boston, and others in Lincolnshire.
Crime in Boston 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 18 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 24 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Boston’s neighbourhoods rank in England
20% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 23% 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.
Boston’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 Boston identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 63% of Boston’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” (69% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 9% 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. 3,066 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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).
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 -2% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -23% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -1% (towns its size -4%).
Five people died in collisions on Boston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 433 collisions with injuries inside Boston in five years, in which five people died (1 was a cyclist). 110 people were killed or seriously injured: 33 on foot and 26 on a bicycle.
That is more than 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 Boston’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Boston’s own rate (2.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Boston had 48.6 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). 30% 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.
Collisions police recorded inside Boston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Boston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 45,347 | 50.7 | 17.6 | D |
| Fishtoft | 1,077 | 15.5 | 3.4 | A |
| Kirton | 5,576 | 35.2 | 10.1 | C |
| Butterwick | 1,363 | 23.5 | 3.7 | B |
| Sibsey | 1,520 | 12.3 | 2.9 | A |
| Sutterton | 1,068 | 25.3 | 16.2 | C |
| Swineshead | 2,653 | 20.9 | 4.7 | B+ |
| Old Leake | 1,173 | 39.2 | 7.4 | C |
Boston records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Fishtoft, 2.5 miles away, records 15.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Boston’s 50.7.
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 565 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Boston’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 Boston 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 Boston
Is Boston safe?
Police recorded 50.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Boston’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 8% of UK towns. Among 151 UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000 people, Boston is 121st from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Boston?
By council ward, West, Fishtoft and Wyberton record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13.5, 21.6 and 35.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 155.7 in Station.
Is crime going up in Boston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 23% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Boston town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 171 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 22% of them violent, and Station ward records 155.7 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 Boston?
Violence & sexual offences: 2,132 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (651) and criminal damage & arson (415), with 1,333 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.