Photo: David Pashley · CC BY-SA 2.0For violent crime, North Walsham trails 71% of UK towns per resident
Its police logs show 31.2 violent and sexual offences and 8.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#36 of 51 in Norfolk). Recorded violence rose 24% in a year. Compared with the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it records less crime per resident than 63%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in North Walsham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 24% more violent crime per resident in North Walsham than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 376 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000 people, North Walsham has the 164th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Halstead, Driffield and Ross-on-Wye, higher than Petersfield, Bridgnorth and Saltash. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind North Walsham’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,505 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks North Walsham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in North Walsham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 37% of North Walsham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 4% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (71% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 10% 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. 549 crimes.
How crime in North Walsham has moved
“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 +24% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -1% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +48% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +23% (towns its size -4%).
How North Walsham’s neighbourhoods rank in England
63% 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.
North Walsham’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Drugs and burglary sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 414 | 32.3 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 124 | 9.7 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 77 | 6 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 66 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 61 | 4.8 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 54 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 21 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 18 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 11 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 10 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 5 | 0.4 | 2.8 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 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.
Crime in North Walsham 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 11 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: North Walsham comes 164th of 376
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 4 | Taverham and Drayton Norfolk | 14,989 | 13.7 | 3.7 | 2.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 52 | Bradwell Norfolk | 11,632 | 19.3 | 8.8 | 6.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 92 | Attleborough Norfolk | 11,236 | 26.1 | 5.8 | 5.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 113 | Downham Market Norfolk | 11,349 | 24.6 | 9.3 | 9.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 161 | Petersfield Hampshire | 14,994 | 28.2 | 10.4 | 13.2 | C+ |
| 162 | Bridgnorth Shropshire | 12,172 | 26.4 | 12.7 | 8.7 | C+ |
| 163 | Saltash Cornwall | 15,433 | 28.3 | 10.8 | 10 | C+ |
| 164 | North Walsham Norfolk | 12,829 | 31.2 | 8 | 8.1 | C+ |
| 165 | Whiteley Hampshire | 9,350 | 29.3 | 10 | 13.3 | C+ |
| 166 | Byfleet Surrey | 14,187 | 25.2 | 14.1 | 13.3 | C+ |
| 167 | Helston Cornwall | 11,366 | 29.6 | 9.8 | 7.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 376 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 North Walsham, and others in Norfolk.
Lowest recorded crime in North Walsham East, North Walsham Market Cross and North Walsham West; highest in North Walsham West
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Walsham East | 4,741 | 23.5 | 4.3 | |
| North Walsham Market Cross | 2,852 | 31.9 | 9.6 | |
| North Walsham West | 5,236 | 37.6 | 10.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 158 | 68% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 120 | 30% violent |
| Nightclubs | 111 | 40% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 89 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 22 | 82% violent |
| Police stations | 21 | 71% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 North Walsham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside North Walsham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on North Walsham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 56 collisions with injuries inside North Walsham in five years. 21 people were killed or seriously injured: 7 on foot and 4 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 North Walsham’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so North Walsham’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, North Walsham had 32.7 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).
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 North Walsham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around North Walsham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Walsham | 12,829 | 31.2 | 8 | C+ |
| Mundesley | 2,777 | 24.5 | 5.6 | B |
| Badersfield | 1,490 | 44.1 | 9 | C− |
| Aylsham | 7,183 | 22.1 | 6.3 | B |
| Coltishall and Horstead | 2,255 | 13.3 | 2.8 | A |
| Stalham | 3,383 | 28.2 | 9.7 | C+ |
| Sutton | 1,026 | 10.4 | 5.2 | A |
| Hevingham | 1,039 | 10.6 | 4.2 | A |
North Walsham records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Badersfield records more. Mundesley, 4.4 miles away, records 24.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against North Walsham’s 31.2.
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 North Walsham 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 North Walsham
Is North Walsham safe?
Police recorded 31.2 violent and sexual offences and 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 North Walsham’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 37% of UK towns. Among 376 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000 people, North Walsham is 164th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of North Walsham?
By council ward, North Walsham East, North Walsham Market Cross and North Walsham West record the least violent and household crime per resident: 23.5, 31.9 and 37.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 37.6 in North Walsham West.
Is crime going up in North Walsham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 24%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 48% and anti-social behaviour rose 23%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is North Walsham town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 111 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 40% of them violent, and North Walsham West ward records 37.6 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 November.
What is the most common crime in North Walsham?
Violence & sexual offences: 414 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (77) and public order (66), with 124 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.