Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0Harrow records theft from the person at 5.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violence recorded locally climbed 7% in a year. Harrow grades C+ for safety overall (#2 of 33 in London): more crime per resident than 63% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Behind the grade sit 23.3 violent and sexual offences and 15.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Harrow
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 7% more violent crime per resident in Harrow 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 50 UK towns and cities of 182,000 to 352,000 people, Harrow has the 2nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bromley, Wandsworth and Havering, higher than Richmond upon Thames. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 13% of Harrow’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 4% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C+ for Harrow
A firm grade. Built on 30,129 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Harrow 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, Harrow runs highest on theft from the person (3.6 per 1,000 against 0.7), robbery (2.2 per 1,000 against 1.4) and burglary (4.8 per 1,000 against 3.4). Public order and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 5,843 | 22.4 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 5,186 | 19.9 | 17.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1,830 | 7 | 4.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,567 | 6 | 10.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1,375 | 5.3 | 6.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1,254 | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,090 | 4.2 | 7.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 992 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 926 | 3.6 | 0.7 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 704 | 2.7 | 7.5 |
| Robbery | Violent | 566 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 230 | 0.9 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 92 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 88 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
“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.
Set against 50 towns its size, Harrow is 2nd
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| 2 | Harrow London | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | 16 | C+ |
| 3 | Merton London | 214,931 | 24.2 | 14.8 | 16.1 | C+ |
| 4 | Sutton London | 208,858 | 27.1 | 14.6 | 13.3 | C |
| 5 | Bexley London | 246,074 | 26.1 | 17.5 | 14.3 | C |
| 6 | Bromley London | 325,469 | 25.7 | 20.8 | 17.4 | C |
| 7 | Wandsworth London | 326,725 | 27.7 | 18.9 | 23 | C |
| 8 | Havering London | 259,401 | 29 | 18.1 | 17.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Redbridge London | 309,509 | 31.1 | 17.7 | 18.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | 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 Harrow, and others in London.
Police in Harrow identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 87% of Harrow’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 43% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (40% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 2% 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. 9,781 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Belmont, Kenton East and Kenton West; highest in Harrow on the Hill
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | 9,024 | 12.7 | 11.2 | |
| Kenton East | 13,610 | 14.7 | 9.5 | |
| Kenton West | 9,994 | 12.8 | 12.3 | |
| Pinner South | 15,391 | 14.5 | 10.6 | |
| Centenary | 15,200 | 15.9 | 12.5 | |
| West Harrow | 10,364 | 19.7 | 8.9 | |
| Pinner | 13,137 | 16.2 | 13.4 | |
| Rayners Lane | 9,140 | 17.9 | 13.2 | |
| Stanmore | 13,361 | 18.4 | 13.6 | |
| Edgware | 15,495 | 16.6 | 15.7 | |
| Harrow Weald | 14,208 | 21.9 | 15.1 | |
| Headstone | 14,884 | 21.9 | 15.3 | |
| Hatch End | 9,825 | 17.8 | 19.7 | |
| Greenhill | 11,011 | 26.7 | 11.1 | |
| Roxbourne | 9,906 | 26.1 | 13.5 | |
| North Harrow | 8,994 | 25.9 | 16.8 | |
| Roxeth | 15,862 | 26.6 | 17.7 | |
| Canons | 9,734 | 22.5 | 22.2 | |
| Wealdstone North | 10,492 | 29.8 | 20.2 | |
| Wealdstone South | 7,956 | 36 | 22.6 | |
| Marlborough | 11,986 | 39.2 | 21.4 | |
| Harrow on the Hill | 10,790 | 63.3 | 22.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 3,774 | 33% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 3,277 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 1,753 | 43% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 1,579 | 41% shoplifting & theft |
| Bus and coach stations | 560 | 31% violent |
| College and university buildings | 517 | 39% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 375 | 32% violent |
| Police stations | 299 | 44% violent |
| Hospitals | 61 | 31% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Harrow on the Hill records 3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Harrow. 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 Harrow. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Harrow’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
1 in 8 Harrow residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
39% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 4% 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.
Harrow’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.
How crime in Harrow 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 +7% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -13% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +3% (towns its size -2%).
Crime in Harrow 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 15 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
10 people died in collisions on Harrow’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2,015 collisions with injuries inside Harrow in five years, in which 10 people died (6 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists). 290 people were killed or seriously injured: 120 on foot and 39 on a bicycle.
That is 0.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Harrow had 22.3 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 41% 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 Harrow’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Harrow
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrow | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | C+ |
| Elstree | 1,737 | 26.3 | 16.9 | C |
| Bushey | 28,427 | 23.4 | 13.9 | C+ |
| Brent | 340,611 | 35.9 | 20.8 | C− |
| Moor Park | 5,850 | 10.2 | 8.5 | A |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 33.6 | 22.2 | C− |
| Hillingdon | 307,089 | 33.4 | 23 | C− |
| Borehamwood | 39,760 | 38.1 | 18 | C− |
Harrow records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Bushey, 4 miles away, records 23.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Harrow’s 23.3.
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 61 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Harrow’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 Harrow 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 Harrow
Is Harrow safe?
Police recorded 23.3 violent and sexual offences and 15.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Harrow’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 37% of UK towns. Among 50 UK towns of 182,000 to 352,000 people, Harrow is 2nd from the least crime. 13% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Harrow?
By council ward, Belmont, Kenton East and Kenton West record the least violent and household crime per resident: 12.7, 14.7 and 12.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 63.3 in Harrow on the Hill.
Is crime going up in Harrow?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 7%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 13% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Harrow?
Violence & sexual offences: 5,843 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came vehicle crime (1,830) and shoplifting (1,567), with 5,186 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Harrow compare with Barnet?
Barnet records 25.3 violent and sexual offences and 21 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Harrow’s 23.3 and 15.4, 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.