Photo: Richard Humphrey · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime per resident in King's Lynn runs higher than in 91% of UK towns
The yearly rates were 51.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Scored on crimes police recorded inside King's Lynn’s built-up area across September 2023 to August 2026, the town lands on D for safety. Bicycle theft: police recorded 91 here in the 12 months to August 2026, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against 0.3 in a typical town its size.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in King's Lynn
One ward carries much of the rate
St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas ward, where 43% of King's Lynn’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 2,224 of King's Lynn’s 7,324 violent and sexual offences in three years: 132.7 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of King's Lynn the figure is 40.4. Where in King's Lynn ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 148 UK towns of 33,000 to 64,000 people, King's Lynn has the 111th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Wellingborough, Gravesend and Boston, higher than Sutton in Ashfield, Merthyr Tydfil and Chorley. 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. 14% of King's Lynn’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 32% 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.
What’s behind King's Lynn’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 9,417 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks King's Lynn 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, King's Lynn runs highest on bicycle theft (1.9 per 1,000 against 0.3), shoplifting (15.7 per 1,000 against 6.1) and drugs (4.5 per 1,000 against 1.9). Vehicle crime sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 2,320 | 48.7 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 746 | 15.7 | 6.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 583 | 12.2 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 457 | 9.6 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 435 | 9.1 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 263 | 5.5 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 214 | 4.5 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 142 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 106 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 103 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 91 | 1.9 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 72 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 35 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 33 | 0.7 | 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.
Police in King's Lynn identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 44% of King's Lynn’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 5% 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 14% of violent and 12% 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. 3,175 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in The Woottons, Gaywood North Bank and Springwood; highest in St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Woottons | 6,338 | 13.2 | 3.9 | |
| Gaywood North Bank | 8,677 | 25.8 | 7.3 | |
| Springwood | 2,871 | 37.8 | 7.2 | |
| Gaywood Clock | 3,335 | 44.1 | 10.7 | |
| Fairstead | 6,374 | 44.8 | 14.9 | |
| South & West Lynn | 5,118 | 51.4 | 17.5 | |
| North Lynn | 6,877 | 61.4 | 18.1 | |
| Gaywood Chase | 2,428 | 67 | 21.6 | |
| St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas | 5,586 | 132.7 | 34.1 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 886 | 62% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 572 | 28% violent |
| Shopping areas | 397 | 57% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 344 | 62% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 324 | 63% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 247 | 48% violent |
| Nightclubs | 116 | 43% violent |
| College and university buildings | 101 | 56% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas records 3.3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of King's Lynn. 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 King's Lynn. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside King's Lynn’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in King's Lynn 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 14 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.
1 in 7 King's Lynn residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
27% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 32% 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.
King's Lynn’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.
King's Lynn places 111th of 148 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 108 | Sutton in Ashfield Nottinghamshire | 36,435 | 45 | 19.4 | 24.7 | D |
| 109 | Merthyr Tydfil Mid Glamorgan | 39,542 | 45.6 | 19.1 | 25.4 | D |
| 110 | Chorley Lancashire | 39,539 | 48.7 | 16.2 | 15 | D |
| 111 | King's Lynn Norfolk | 47,604 | 51.4 | 14.7 | 23.1 | D |
| 112 | Hatfield Hertfordshire | 41,561 | 47.2 | 19.4 | 20.7 | D |
| 113 | Folkestone Kent | 51,987 | 49.7 | 17.2 | 22 | D |
| 114 | Batley West Yorkshire | 44,494 | 48.3 | 19.3 | 15.1 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | 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 King's Lynn, and others in Norfolk.
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 -1% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +7% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -13% (towns its size -4%).
One person died in collisions on King's Lynn’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 290 collisions with injuries inside King's Lynn in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 87 people were killed or seriously injured: 20 on foot and 27 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 King's Lynn’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so King's Lynn’s own rate (0.4) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, King's Lynn had 36.6 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). 23% 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 King's Lynn’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around King's Lynn
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King's Lynn | 47,604 | 51.4 | 14.7 | D |
| Clenchwarton | 2,020 | 12.9 | 4.8 | A |
| West Winch | 2,828 | 14.6 | 4.8 | A− |
| Terrington St Clement | 2,792 | 34.6 | 6.1 | C |
| Gayton | 1,522 | 24.3 | 6.6 | B− |
| Watlington | 2,593 | 18.1 | 7.6 | B+ |
| Dersingham | 4,753 | 11.4 | 3.1 | A |
| Tilney St Lawrence | 1,504 | 23.9 | 5.3 | B |
King's Lynn records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Clenchwarton, 2.9 miles away, records 12.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against King's Lynn’s 51.4.
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 324 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in King's Lynn’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 King's Lynn 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 King's Lynn
Is King's Lynn safe?
Police recorded 51.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside King's Lynn’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 9% of UK towns. Among 148 UK towns of 33,000 to 64,000 people, King's Lynn is 111th from the least crime. 14% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of King's Lynn?
By council ward, The Woottons, Gaywood North Bank and Springwood record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13.2, 25.8 and 37.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 132.7 in St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas.
Is crime going up in King's Lynn?
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 rose 7% and anti-social behaviour fell 13%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is King's Lynn town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 116 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 43% of them violent, and St. Margaret's with St. Nicholas ward records 132.7 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 King's Lynn?
Violence & sexual offences: 2,320 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (746) and criminal damage & arson (457), with 583 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.