Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Thetford stands out for bicycle theft: 3.3 times the rate of a typical town its size
It has more violent crime than 88% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 83%. In sum, crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put Thetford at D (#49 of 51 in Norfolk): more crime per resident than 88% of UK towns. For every 1,000 residents, 43.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Thetford
More crime than many places its size
Of 228 UK towns of 18,000 to 34,000 people, Thetford has the 162nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Caerphilly, Newquay and Huntingdon, higher than Buxton, Stroud and Houghton Regis. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
40% of Thetford’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 16% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The D for Thetford, and how it is built
A firm grade. Built on 4,550 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Thetford 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, Thetford runs highest on bicycle theft (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.3), other crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 1.8) and drugs (3.5 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 | 1,031 | 40.4 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 383 | 15 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 239 | 9.4 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 160 | 6.3 | 5.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 159 | 6.2 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 102 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 90 | 3.5 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 90 | 3.5 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 59 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 55 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 30 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 28 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 6 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 0.2 | 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.
40% of Thetford residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
16% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 40% 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.
Thetford’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 Thetford identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 53% of Thetford’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 7% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (70% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 13% 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. 1,673 crimes.
Crime in Thetford 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 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Thetford places 162nd of 228 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 109 | Dereham Norfolk | 20,788 | 37.3 | 10.5 | 16 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 146 | Gorleston-on-Sea Norfolk | 24,474 | 39.2 | 14.2 | 12.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 159 | Buxton Derbyshire | 20,048 | 43.8 | 14.1 | 17.1 | D |
| 160 | Stroud Gloucestershire | 26,073 | 38 | 20.2 | 18.1 | D |
| 161 | Houghton Regis Bedfordshire | 18,814 | 40.5 | 18.4 | 11.5 | D |
| 162 | Thetford Norfolk | 25,502 | 43.9 | 15.7 | 12.4 | D |
| 163 | Waltham Abbey Essex | 18,645 | 38.6 | 21.2 | 14.3 | D |
| 164 | Winsford Cheshire | 32,522 | 49.9 | 10.3 | 7.7 | D |
| 165 | Nelson Lancashire | 33,808 | 44.8 | 15.6 | 13.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 228 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Thetford, and others in Norfolk.
Lowest recorded crime in Thetford Boudica, Thetford Castle and Thetford Burrell; highest in Thetford Priory
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thetford Boudica | 4,953 | 25.1 | 9.4 | |
| Thetford Castle | 6,181 | 44.3 | 15.4 | |
| Thetford Burrell | 6,219 | 48.8 | 17.9 | |
| Thetford Priory | 7,897 | 49.6 | 17.6 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 661 | 31% violent |
| Petrol stations | 152 | 37% violent |
| Supermarkets | 131 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 112 | 44% violent |
| Shopping areas | 68 | 41% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 55 | 44% drugs, public order & other |
| College and university buildings | 35 | 60% violent |
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 Thetford. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Thetford’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
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 -1% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -7% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -9% (towns its size -4%).
One person died in collisions on Thetford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 130 collisions with injuries inside Thetford in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 33 people were killed or seriously injured: 12 on foot and 6 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 Thetford’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Thetford’s own rate (0.8) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Thetford had 25.9 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 36% 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 Thetford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Thetford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thetford | 25,502 | 43.9 | 15.7 | D |
| Brandon | 9,218 | 31.8 | 12.1 | C |
| Weeting | 1,883 | 13.1 | 6 | A |
| Mundford | 1,563 | 10.2 | 3.8 | A+ |
| East Harling | 2,490 | 13.1 | 5 | A |
| Stanton | 2,316 | 13.4 | 3.5 | A |
| Ixworth | 2,296 | 24.4 | 4.8 | B |
| Little Eriswell | 4,120 | 8.6 | 1.4 | A+ |
Thetford records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Brandon, 5.7 miles away, records 31.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Thetford’s 43.9.
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 Thetford 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 Thetford
Is Thetford safe?
Police recorded 43.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Thetford’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 12% of UK towns. Among 228 UK towns of 18,000 to 34,000 people, Thetford is 162nd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Thetford?
By council ward, Thetford Boudica, Thetford Castle and Thetford Burrell record the least violent and household crime per resident: 25.1, 44.3 and 48.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 49.6 in Thetford Priory.
Is crime going up in Thetford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 7%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 9%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Thetford town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 112 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 44% of them violent, and Thetford Priory ward records 49.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in August and was lowest in December.
What is the most common crime in Thetford?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,031 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (239) and public order (160), with 383 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Thetford compare with Bury St Edmunds?
Bury St Edmunds records 39.8 violent and sexual offences and 13.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Thetford’s 43.9 and 15.7, 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.