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Prestwick from the air 1Photo: Unknown author · CC BY 2.0
–Not graded
Safety in Prestwick · Scottish Government, SIMD

Recorded crime in the South Ayrshire council area is 19% below Scotland’s rate

Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes street by street, so Prestwick 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 South Ayrshire council area (462 crimes per 10,000 people in 2025-26), and how Prestwick’s own neighbourhoods rank for crime.

Crimes, South Ayrshire
462
per 10,000 people, 2025-26
Scotland 569
Violence
115
non-sexual violent crimes per 10,000
Scotland 136
Cleared up
64%
of recorded crimes, 2025-26
Scotland 57%
SIMD crimes in Prestwick
152
per 10,000 residents, 2017/18
Scotland 276
What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Prestwick

Crime about level over ten years

Recorded crime across the South Ayrshire council area went from 463 to 462 per 10,000 people between 2016-17 and 2025-26; across Scotland it moved +3%. Ten years ↓

Few crime-deprived neighbourhoods

3% of Prestwick’s residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s small areas with the most crime on SIMD 2020, and 42% in the fifth with the least. Its rate of SIMD crimes, 152 per 10,000 in 2017/18, is 45% below Scotland’s. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

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

By type

What police recorded in the South Ayrshire council area in 2025-26

Common assault96
Shoplifting85
Vandalism51
Fraud24
Housebreaking7
Serious assault5
Drug supply5
Domestic abuse4
Car theft3
Robbery2
Violent & sexualHomes, cars & damageOtherScotland

Housebreaking and car theft sit below Scotland’s rate.

Show every crime group as a table
GroupRecordedPer 10,000Scotland
Non-sexual crimes of violence1,286115136
Sexual crimes2572330
Crimes of dishonesty (theft, housebreaking, fraud)1,839164213
Damage and reckless behaviour (vandalism, fire-raising)6385769
Crimes against society (drugs, weapons, justice)1,162104121
Antisocial offences (disorder, threatening behaviour)1,0569493

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.

Neighbourhoods · Scotland-wide rank

1 in 4 Prestwick residents lives in one of Scotland’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods

3%1
0%2
7%3
5%4
14%5
12%6
3%7
13%8
16%9
26%10
Higher crimeLower crime

55% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Scotland’s neighbourhoods, and 3% in the highest-crime 20%. Prestwick counted 152 SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, 45% below Scotland’s 276; three years before, 176 (-14%, 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.

Prestwick’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.

Towns its size

Prestwick is 27th of 99 Scottish towns of 7,393 to 28,507

#TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000In the most crime-deprived fifth
1Westhill Aberdeenshire11,778520%
2Bishopton Renfrewshire10,048690%
…
24Blairgowrie Perth and Kinross9,4391478%
25Giffnock East Renfrewshire11,9631474%
26Gourock Inverclyde10,0721518%
27Prestwick South Ayrshire14,5501523%
28South Queensferry City of Edinburgh10,21415214%
29Troon South Ayrshire15,2711565%
30Stonehaven Aberdeenshire11,1641627%
…
98Methil Fife10,71250957%
99Stranraer Dumfries and Galloway9,72956545%

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

Cleared up

64% of crimes in the South Ayrshire council area were cleared up, more than Scotland’s 57%

All crimes64%
Violence71%
Sexual crimes67%
Dishonesty50%
Damage36%
Against society92%
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.

Where in Prestwick

Fewest SIMD crimes in Prestwick East; most in Newton North

AreaResidentsPer 10,000
Prestwick East5,131125
Prestwick West3,810152
Prestwick Airport and Monkton1,316161
Heathfield3,668161
Newton North625307
Below Scotland’s rateAt or above it

1 of Prestwick’s 5 areas is 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.

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 South Ayrshire council area against Scotland. 2016-17 to 2025-26: all crimes +0% (Scotland +3%), violence +6%.

1,000 people · one year

For every 1,000 people in the South Ayrshire council area, about 14 violent or sexual crimes in 2025-26

Violent & sexualHousebreaking, car theft & damageOther theft & fraud
1,543
violent and sexual crimes, South Ayrshire, 2025-26
760
housebreaking, car theft & damage
1,717
other theft & fraud
36
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 7 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 South Ayrshire council area shares them.

On the roads

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

Police recorded 32 collisions with injuries inside Prestwick in five years, in which two people died (2 were pedestrians). 14 people were killed or seriously injured: 11 on foot and 1 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 Prestwick’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Prestwick’s own rate (2.8) is context, not a ranking.

Counting serious injuries too, Prestwick had 19.2 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
14
killed or seriously injured
11
of them on foot
1
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 Prestwick’s locality, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Prestwick

Fewest quarterSecondThirdMost SIMD crime
TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000Most crime-deprived fifth
Prestwick14,5501523%
Ayr46,20931825%
Troon15,2711565%
Dundonald2,5791740%
Drongan3,0631830%
Dreghorn3,3621730%
Crosshouse2,60917621%
Mauchline3,8091780%

Prestwick counted less SIMD crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.

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 South Ayrshire 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 Prestwick

Is Prestwick safe?

Police Scotland recorded 462 crimes per 10,000 people across the South Ayrshire council area in 2025-26, 19% below Scotland’s 569. Within Prestwick, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counted 152 of its selected crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, against 276 across Scotland; 3% of residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s neighbourhoods with the most crime. Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Prestwick has no Safety Grade.

How many crimes are solved in the South Ayrshire council area?

64% 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 Prestwick 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.