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Cambusnethan, Kirk Road, Cambusnethan Old Parish Church (Church of Scotland) Including Church Hall, Vestry and Session House, War Memorial, Boundary Wall, Gatepiers, Gates and RailingsCambusnethan, Kirk Road, Cambusnethan Old Parish Church (Church of Scotland) Including Church Hall, Vestry and Session House, War Memorial, Boundary Wall, Gatepiers, Gates and Railings · Photo: Jim Smillie · CC BY-SA 2.0
–Not graded
Safety in Wishaw · Scottish Government, SIMD

Recorded crime in the North Lanarkshire council area is about Scotland’s rate

Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes street by street, so Wishaw has no Safety Grade and no overall grade until the 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation brings neighbourhood crime figures. What Scotland does publish: crime for the whole North Lanarkshire council area (588 crimes per 10,000 people in 2025-26), and how Wishaw’s own neighbourhoods rank for crime.

Crimes, North Lanarkshire
588
per 10,000 people, 2025-26
Scotland 569
Violence
147
non-sexual violent crimes per 10,000
Scotland 136
Cleared up
63%
of recorded crimes, 2025-26
Scotland 57%
SIMD crimes in Wishaw
410
per 10,000 residents, 2017/18
Scotland 276
What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Wishaw

Crime about level over ten years

Recorded crime across the North Lanarkshire council area went from 582 to 588 per 10,000 people between 2016-17 and 2025-26; across Scotland it moved +3%. Ten years ↓

More crime-deprived neighbourhoods than most

32% of Wishaw’s residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s small areas with the most crime on SIMD 2020, and 8% in the fifth with the least. Its rate of SIMD crimes, 410 per 10,000 in 2017/18, is 48% above Scotland’s. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

Written from the Scottish Government’s recorded crime and SIMD figures on this page.

Towns its size

Wishaw is 44th of 48 Scottish towns of 15,115 to 56,053

#TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000In the most crime-deprived fifth
1Newton Mearns East Renfrewshire28,447990%
2Bearsden East Dunbartonshire28,5071080%
…
41Clydebank West Dunbartonshire26,22037134%
42Motherwell North Lanarkshire33,02137831%
43Kirkcaldy and Dysart Fife51,13538341%
44Wishaw North Lanarkshire30,19041032%
45Dumfries Dumfries and Galloway33,69442136%
46Peterhead Aberdeenshire19,79344340%
47Inverness Highland48,25745030%
48Falkirk Falkirk34,63754742%

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, counting from the fewest: the towns either side of Wishaw, and the ends of the list. Described, not graded.

Where in Wishaw

Fewest SIMD crimes in Netherton and Kirkhill; most in Craigneuk Wishaw

AreaResidentsPer 10,000
Netherton and Kirkhill3,359164
Wishaw East2,682276
Overtown450294
Coltness3,684345
Wishaw North6,155349
Pather3,840424
Wishaw South4,964461
Craigneuk Wishaw4,684752
Below Scotland’s rateAt or above it

6 of Wishaw’s 8 areas are at or above Scotland’s rate of 276 (orange bars). SIMD counts crimes where they were recorded, so an area with a town centre, a station or a hospital records more than its own residents suffer.

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, by small area (2011 data zones, grouped by the names the Scottish Government gives them), fewest first.

Neighbourhoods · Scotland-wide rank

32% of Wishaw residents live in one of Scotland’s highest-crime neighbourhoods

19%1
13%2
27%3
14%4
9%5
4%6
6%7
0%8
2%9
7%10
Higher crimeLower crime

8% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Scotland’s neighbourhoods, and 32% in the highest-crime 20%. Wishaw counted 410 SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, 48% above Scotland’s 276; three years before, 430 (-5%, Scotland -9%).

Scottish Government, SIMD 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (crimes of violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault, 2014/15 and 2017/18). Residents from Scotland’s Census 2022 output areas.

Wishaw’s residents by the crime decile of their small area (2011 data zone, about 800 people) in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Scotland’s 6,976 data zones and 10 the lowest.

Cleared up

63% of crimes in the North Lanarkshire council area were cleared up, more than Scotland’s 57%

All crimes63%
Violence72%
Sexual crimes63%
Dishonesty43%
Damage34%
Against society93%
Violent & sexualHomes, cars & damageOtherScotland

Violence and drugs crimes are cleared up most often, because they are usually recorded with a suspect in view; housebreaking, theft and vandalism least.

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crime clear-up rates by council area.

Share of crimes recorded in 2025-26 that were cleared up: a suspect identified and enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal. The tick is Scotland.

By type

What police recorded in the North Lanarkshire council area in 2025-26

Common assault121
Shoplifting69
Vandalism67
Fraud25
Housebreaking14
Drug supply10
Car theft9
Serious assault8
Domestic abuse7
Robbery3
Violent & sexualHomes, cars & damageOtherScotland

Against Scotland, the North Lanarkshire council area runs highest on serious assault (8 per 10,000 against 6) and domestic abuse (7 per 10,000 against 6). Shoplifting sits below Scotland’s rate.

Show every crime group as a table
GroupRecordedPer 10,000Scotland
Non-sexual crimes of violence5,064147136
Sexual crimes1,1493330
Crimes of dishonesty (theft, housebreaking, fraud)5,970173213
Damage and reckless behaviour (vandalism, fire-raising)2,8438369
Crimes against society (drugs, weapons, justice)5,245152121
Antisocial offences (disorder, threatening behaviour)4,49713193

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crimes and offences by council area. Groups 1 to 5 are crimes; group 6, antisocial offences, is offences.

Per 10,000 people. The tick on each bar is Scotland’s rate. Every town in the council area shares these figures.

Ten years · yearly

Recorded crime about level since 2016-17

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2016-17 to the newest year. Since April 2019 violence includes the new crime of domestic abuse under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.

Per 10,000 people each year, the North Lanarkshire council area against Scotland. 2016-17 to 2025-26: all crimes +1% (Scotland +3%), violence +31%.

1,000 people · one year

For every 1,000 people in the North Lanarkshire council area, about 18 violent or sexual crimes in 2025-26

Violent & sexualHousebreaking, car theft & damageOther theft & fraud
6,213
violent and sexual crimes, North Lanarkshire, 2025-26
3,634
housebreaking, car theft & damage
5,179
other theft & fraud
44
of the three, per 1,000

A crime isn’t a victim: one person can suffer several, and crimes in a city centre often involve visitors rather than residents.

And about 11 housebreakings, car thefts or acts of vandalism and fire-raising, plus 15 other thefts and frauds. Each dot is one person; each coloured dot is one recorded crime. These are council-wide figures: every town in the North Lanarkshire council area shares them.

On the roads

Two people died in collisions on Wishaw’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 75 collisions with injuries inside Wishaw in five years, in which two people died. 26 people were killed or seriously injured: 12 on foot and 2 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 Wishaw’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wishaw’s own rate (1.3) is context, not a ranking.

Counting serious injuries too, Wishaw had 17.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).

2
people killed, 2021–2025
26
killed or seriously injured
12
of them on foot
2
of them on a bicycle

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; the towns its size are England and Wales’s. There’s no national rate here: more than two thirds of Scotland’s road deaths (70%) happen outside every town’s locality boundary. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.

Collisions police recorded inside Wishaw’s locality, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Wishaw

Fewest quarterSecondThirdMost SIMD crime
TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000Most crime-deprived fifth
Wishaw30,19041032%
Cleland3,04320516%
Newmains5,36430232%
Carfin4,42719518%
Law3,2931960%
Motherwell33,02137831%
Newarthill6,95623423%
New Stevenston6,29830537%

Wishaw counted more SIMD crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Cleland, 1.8 miles away, counted 205 per 10,000, against Wishaw’s 410.

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18. The map colours each town by the quarter of Scotland’s towns it falls in; they are not grades. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Council areas, not towns. Recorded crime and clear-up rates are published for each of Scotland’s 32 council areas, so every town in the North Lanarkshire council area shares them. A city centre and a quiet village in the same council show the same figures.
  • SIMD crime is town-level, but old. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counts selected crimes (violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault) in each small area. SIMD 2020 uses crimes from 2017/18; SIMD 2026, due at the end of 2026, will bring newer figures; we plan to grade Scottish safety on them.
  • Not a grade. Nothing on this page is graded. The towns-its-size ranking and the neighbours’ colours describe SIMD crime rates; they aren’t a Safety Grade and don’t feed one.
  • Recorded, not experienced. Recorded crime is what the police record. It moves with reporting and policing as well as with crime; the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey asks people directly, for Scotland as a whole.

Questions about safety in Wishaw

Is Wishaw safe?

Police Scotland recorded 588 crimes per 10,000 people across the North Lanarkshire council area in 2025-26, about the same as Scotland’s 569. Within Wishaw, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counted 410 of its selected crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, against 276 across Scotland; 32% of residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s neighbourhoods with the most crime. Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Wishaw has no Safety Grade.

How many crimes are solved in the North Lanarkshire council area?

63% of crimes recorded in 2025-26 were cleared up (someone was identified and there was enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal), against 57% across Scotland.

Why doesn’t Wishaw have a Safety Grade?

Our Safety Grade counts crimes inside each town’s boundary. Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes by location for reuse, so Scottish towns can’t be measured the same way. The 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation will bring newer neighbourhood crime figures.

Sources: Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the NRS 2022 locality 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.