Photo: habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime per resident in Bridgwater runs higher than in almost every UK town
Robbery stands out: 3.5 per 1,000 residents in Bridgwater, against 0.5 in a typical town its size, with 168 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Graded on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it scores D− for safety. Violence recorded locally climbed 6% in a year. For every 1,000 residents, 76.8 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 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 Bridgwater
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% more violent crime per resident in Bridgwater 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 rose 29% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
27% of Bridgwater’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 10% 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.
What’s behind Bridgwater’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 13,717 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bridgwater 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, Bridgwater runs highest on robbery (3.5 per 1,000 against 0.5), bicycle theft (1.7 per 1,000 against 0.3) and shoplifting (24.3 per 1,000 against 6.1).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 3,605 | 75.3 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,321 | 27.6 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,162 | 24.3 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 724 | 15.1 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 599 | 12.5 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 409 | 8.5 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 222 | 4.6 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 206 | 4.3 | 2.8 |
| Robbery | Violent | 168 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 165 | 3.4 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 142 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 81 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 53 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 25 | 0.5 | 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.
Police in Bridgwater identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 2% of Bridgwater’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 2% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (56% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 11% 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. 4,468 crimes.
How Bridgwater compares with UK towns of 33,000 to 65,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 104 | Yeovil Somerset | 50,170 | 49.2 | 12.8 | 24.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 125 | Taunton Somerset | 61,667 | 56.2 | 15.1 | 24.5 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Bilston West Midlands | 34,631 | 58.9 | 29.4 | 26.7 | D− |
| 149 | Castleford West Yorkshire | 45,363 | 61.7 | 27.1 | 30.3 | D− |
| 150 | Keighley West Yorkshire | 48,754 | 70.7 | 24.3 | 24.3 | D− |
| 151 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Bridgwater, and others in Somerset.
Crime in Bridgwater 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 21 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 35 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
27% of Bridgwater residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
10% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 27% 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.
Bridgwater’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 Bridgwater 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 +6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +29% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +23% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +4% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in North Petherton, Bridgwater West and Bridgwater East & Bawdrip; highest in Bridgwater South
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Petherton | 5,034 | 48.6 | 14.5 | |
| Bridgwater West | 10,806 | 54.4 | 12.3 | |
| Bridgwater East & Bawdrip | 8,915 | 64.7 | 17.5 | |
| Bridgwater North & Central | 11,078 | 89.1 | 19.8 | |
| Bridgwater South | 12,013 | 104.3 | 26.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1,411 | 61% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 1,124 | 39% violent |
| Shopping areas | 732 | 31% violent |
| Car parks | 371 | 38% violent |
| Nightclubs | 278 | 63% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 262 | 45% violent |
| Hospitals | 69 | 41% violent |
| College and university buildings | 46 | 59% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Bridgwater South records 1.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Bridgwater. 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 Bridgwater. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Bridgwater’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Three people died in collisions on Bridgwater’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 275 collisions with injuries inside Bridgwater in five years, in which three people died (1 was a pedestrian). 81 people were killed or seriously injured: 26 on foot and 11 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 Bridgwater’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bridgwater’s own rate (1.3) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Bridgwater had 33.7 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). 32% 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 Bridgwater’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bridgwater
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgwater | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | D− |
| Wembdon | 1,772 | 9 | 5.6 | A |
| North Petherton | 3,180 | 44.8 | 9.4 | C− |
| Puriton | 2,265 | 19.6 | 6 | B+ |
| Westonzoyland | 1,463 | 19.4 | 4.8 | B+ |
| Cannington | 2,315 | 20.5 | 5.8 | B+ |
| Woolavington | 2,324 | 37.7 | 10.9 | C− |
| Monkton Heathfield | 4,584 | 38.2 | 9.4 | C− |
Bridgwater records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Wembdon, 1.2 miles away, records 9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bridgwater’s 76.8.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 69 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Bridgwater’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Bridgwater 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 Bridgwater
Is Bridgwater safe?
Police recorded 76.8 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bridgwater’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: behind almost every UK town. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Bridgwater has less crime per resident than 2%.
What are the safest areas of Bridgwater?
By council ward, North Petherton, Bridgwater West and Bridgwater East & Bawdrip record the least violent and household crime per resident: 48.6, 54.4 and 64.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 104.3 in Bridgwater South.
Is crime going up in Bridgwater?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 29%, shoplifting and theft rose 23% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Bridgwater town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 278 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 63% of them violent, and Bridgwater South ward records 104.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in October and was lowest in April.
What is the most common crime in Bridgwater?
Violence & sexual offences: 3,605 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (1,162) and public order (724), with 1,321 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bridgwater compare with Taunton?
Taunton records 56.2 violent and sexual offences and 15.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bridgwater’s 76.8 and 18.9, 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.