Photo: Motacilla · CC BY-SA 4.0Wolvercote records criminal damage & arson at 4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime here is higher than in 79% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 82%. Its letter overall is C−: more crime per resident than 81% of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Year on year, 36.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What’s behind Wolvercote’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 208 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wolvercote 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, Wolvercote runs highest on criminal damage & arson (12.8 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (39.2 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 52 | 39.2 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 17 | 12.8 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 9 | 6.8 | 2.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 8 | 6 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 5.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 5.3 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 4.5 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 3.8 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 3 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Wolvercote compares with UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Lower Shiplake Oxfordshire | 1,086 | 5.8 | 4 | 2.5 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Middle Barton Oxfordshire | 1,762 | 8.3 | 4.5 | 1.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 115 | Chawley Oxfordshire | 1,127 | 10.1 | 3.3 | 4.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 139 | Freeland Oxfordshire | 1,520 | 10.8 | 3.3 | 0.4 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1117 | Stanwell Moor Surrey | 1,431 | 28.2 | 23.3 | 6.3 | C− |
| 1118 | St Clears Dyfed | 1,787 | 40.9 | 10.7 | 7.4 | C− |
| 1119 | Bottom Boat West Yorkshire | 1,191 | 38.3 | 13.7 | 7.8 | C− |
| 1120 | Wolvercote Oxfordshire | 1,328 | 36.7 | 15.6 | 8.3 | C− |
| 1121 | New Quay Dyfed | 1,046 | 39.4 | 12.9 | 4.7 | C− |
| 1122 | Griston Norfolk | 1,361 | 49 | 3.4 | 1.5 | C− |
| 1123 | Longrock Cornwall | 1,983 | 38.3 | 14.1 | 26.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Wolvercote, and others in Oxfordshire.
Crime in Wolvercote 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 23 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
53 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 33 the year before
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 +61% (towns its size +3%).
No one died in a collision on Wolvercote’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2 collisions with injuries inside Wolvercote in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Wolvercote is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Wolvercote’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Wolvercote had 1.
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 Wolvercote’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wolvercote
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolvercote | 1,328 | 36.7 | 15.6 | C− |
| Yarnton | 3,227 | 22.7 | 6 | B |
| Kidlington | 14,640 | 22.1 | 8.9 | B− |
| Eynsham | 5,321 | 18.6 | 7.8 | B+ |
| Chawley | 1,127 | 10.1 | 3.3 | A+ |
| Oxford | 170,799 | 37 | 15.1 | C− |
| Woodstock | 3,522 | 18.6 | 6.5 | B+ |
| Long Hanborough | 3,034 | 14.1 | 4.4 | A |
Wolvercote records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Yarnton, 1.8 miles away, records 22.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wolvercote’s 36.7.
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 Wolvercote 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 Wolvercote
Is Wolvercote safe?
Police recorded 36.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wolvercote’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 19% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Wolvercote has less crime per resident than 8%.
Is crime going up in Wolvercote?
Police recorded 53 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 33 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Wolvercote?
Violence & sexual offences: 52 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (17) and other theft (9), with 8 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wolvercote compare with Oxford?
Oxford records 37 violent and sexual offences and 15.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Wolvercote’s 36.7 and 15.6, 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.