Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0Ilchester stands out for other theft: 7.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
On burglary, vehicle crime and damage it beats 51% of UK towns; on violent crime, only 21%. Weighing it all, Ilchester earns C for safety, with more crime per resident than 74% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026. Its police logs show 36.4 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Ilchester
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000 people, Ilchester has the 1,540th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Mortimer, Byram and Llanberis, higher than Kingstone, Penrhyndeudraeth and St Erth. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 40% of Ilchester’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Ilchester: C for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 283 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Ilchester 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, Ilchester runs highest on other theft (19.9 per 1,000 against 2.5), drugs (4.8 per 1,000 against 0.6) and violence & sexual offences (34.9 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 72 | 34.9 | 16.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 41 | 19.9 | 2.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 15 | 7.3 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 5.8 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 10 | 4.8 | 0.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 9 | 4.4 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 3.4 | 1.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 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.
Ilchester is 1,540th of 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| 2 | Newton St Loe Somerset | 1,372 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 2.4 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | North Curry Somerset | 1,057 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 0.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Shipham Somerset | 1,104 | 6.3 | 3.9 | 0.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 132 | Chew Magna Somerset | 1,249 | 8 | 5.1 | 14.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1537 | Kingstone Herefordshire | 1,500 | 32 | 13.3 | 2.7 | C |
| 1538 | Penrhyndeudraeth Gwynedd | 1,463 | 34.7 | 11 | 4.3 | C |
| 1539 | St Erth Cornwall | 1,128 | 34.5 | 11.3 | 3.8 | C |
| 1540 | Ilchester Somerset | 2,062 | 36.4 | 9.4 | 11.6 | C |
| 1541 | Chigwell Row Essex | 2,115 | 30.1 | 15.8 | 4.7 | C |
| 1542 | Bestwood Village Nottinghamshire | 2,151 | 32.4 | 13.5 | 4.3 | C |
| 1543 | Cockfield County Durham | 1,351 | 31.6 | 14.3 | 8.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 1764 | 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 Ilchester, and others in Somerset.
Crime in Ilchester 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 24 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +1% (towns its size +3%), anti-social behaviour -50% (towns its size -1%).
No one died in a collision on Ilchester’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 7 collisions with injuries inside Ilchester 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 Ilchester is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Ilchester’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; Ilchester 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 Ilchester’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Ilchester
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilchester | 2,062 | 36.4 | 9.4 | C |
| Somerton | 5,106 | 28.4 | 8.3 | C+ |
| Martock | 4,079 | 34.9 | 9.2 | C |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 49.2 | 12.8 | D |
| Keinton Mandeville | 1,216 | 9.3 | 4.4 | A+ |
| Stoke sub Hamdon | 1,360 | 33.3 | 7.4 | C |
| Langport | 3,578 | 34.6 | 6.2 | C |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 38.1 | 9.1 | C |
Ilchester records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Yeovil and Barwick and Stoford record more. Somerton, 4.1 miles away, records 28.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Ilchester’s 36.4.
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 Ilchester 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 Ilchester
Is Ilchester safe?
Police recorded 36.4 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Ilchester’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 26% of UK towns. Among 1,764 UK towns of 1,000 to 3,000 people, Ilchester is 1,540th from the least crime. 40% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Ilchester?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 11%, shoplifting and theft rose 257% and anti-social behaviour fell 50%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Ilchester?
Violence & sexual offences: 72 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (41) and criminal damage & arson (12), with 15 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Ilchester compare with Yeovil?
Yeovil records 49.2 violent and sexual offences and 12.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Ilchester’s 36.4 and 9.4, 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.