Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Brayton records less crime than nine in ten UK towns
Counting crimes police recorded inside Brayton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades A for safety: #6 of 54 in North Yorkshire. Violence recorded locally climbed 18% in a year. In a usual year, 12.6 violent and sexual offences and 4.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Brayton
Less crime than most places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Brayton has the 43rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lytchett Matravers, Girton and Navenby, higher than Oaklands, West Parley and Cuxton. Towns its size ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 18% more violent crime per resident in Brayton than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Brayton’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 209 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Brayton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Towns its size: Brayton comes 43rd of 706
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| 2 | Dunnington North Yorkshire | 3,256 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 3.2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Upper Poppleton North Yorkshire | 3,520 | 7.1 | 3.7 | 6.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Copmanthorpe North Yorkshire | 3,671 | 8.4 | 3 | 4.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Bishopthorpe North Yorkshire | 3,333 | 10 | 3.9 | 3.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Oaklands Hertfordshire | 3,960 | 10.9 | 5.9 | 2.2 | A |
| 41 | West Parley Dorset | 3,665 | 9.1 | 7.8 | 3.4 | A |
| 42 | Cuxton Kent | 3,039 | 9.7 | 7.4 | 2.9 | A |
| 43 | Brayton North Yorkshire | 4,092 | 12.6 | 4.4 | 1.4 | A |
| 44 | Brundall Norfolk | 4,378 | 14.2 | 2.9 | 7.9 | A |
| 45 | Gresford Clwyd | 4,948 | 11.5 | 5.7 | 5.1 | A |
| 46 | Istead Rise Kent | 3,398 | 9.7 | 7.6 | 5.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Brayton, and others in North Yorkshire.
How Brayton’s neighbourhoods rank in England
54% 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.
Brayton’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 Brayton has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-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 +18% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -11% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Brayton 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 5 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 1 shoplifting and theft report, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Violence & sexual offences and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 64 | 15.6 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 41 | 10 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 2.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 4 | 1 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 2 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
No one died in a collision on Brayton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 8 collisions with injuries inside Brayton in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Brayton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Brayton’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Brayton had 2.
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 Brayton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Brayton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brayton | 4,092 | 12.6 | 4.4 | A |
| Selby | 19,480 | 48.2 | 14.7 | D |
| Thorpe Willoughby | 3,482 | 19.2 | 4.2 | B+ |
| Hambleton | 1,722 | 15.1 | 4.1 | A |
| Barlby | 3,499 | 23.2 | 9 | B− |
| Camblesforth | 1,557 | 19.7 | 7.3 | B |
| Cawood | 1,501 | 12.9 | 3.6 | A |
| Riccall | 2,388 | 10.8 | 2.7 | A+ |
Brayton records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Cawood, 4.6 miles away, records 12.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Brayton’s 12.6.
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 Brayton 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 Brayton
Is Brayton safe?
Police recorded 12.6 violent and sexual offences and 4.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Brayton’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 90% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Brayton is 43rd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Brayton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 18%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 33%, shoplifting and theft rose 20% and anti-social behaviour fell 11%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Brayton?
Violence & sexual offences: 64 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (12) and public order (4), with 41 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.