Photo: Hywel Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Salfords than in 97% of UK towns
Violence recorded locally dropped 13% in a year. By contrast, the grade is D−, built on crimes police recorded inside Salfords’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Of all the kinds of crime, drugs is where Salfords departs most from towns its size: 9.6 per 1,000 against 0.6. The local count comes to 61.6 violent and sexual offences and 25.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Salfords
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 13% less violent crime per resident in Salfords than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: D− for Salfords
A firm grade. Built on 487 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Salfords 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, Salfords runs highest on drugs (9.6 per 1,000 against 0.6), public order (29.4 per 1,000 against 2.4) and criminal damage & arson (14.4 per 1,000 against 3.2).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 99 | 52.9 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 55 | 29.4 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 27 | 14.4 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 20 | 10.7 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 18 | 9.6 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 11 | 5.9 | 1.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 11 | 5.9 | 5.3 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 3.7 | 1.1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 6 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 2.7 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 1.1 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 1.1 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 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.
Police in Salfords identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 44% of Salfords’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 3% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (39% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 38% of violent and 24% 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. 185 crimes.
How Salfords compares with 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 101 | Woldingham Surrey | 2,223 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 2.4 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 158 | Lyne Surrey | 1,202 | 6.1 | 7.8 | 3.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 174 | Chiddingfold Surrey | 2,160 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 2.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 195 | Chaldon Surrey | 1,441 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 2.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 1738 | Streethouse West Yorkshire | 1,691 | 67.3 | 19.3 | 7.9 | D− |
| 1739 | Pentre Maelor Clwyd | 1,814 | 75.4 | 11.2 | 9 | D− |
| 1740 | Camber East Sussex | 1,132 | 61.5 | 25.3 | 14.4 | D− |
| 1741 | Salfords Surrey | 1,873 | 61.6 | 25.3 | 15.3 | D− |
| 1742 | Llanhilleth Gwent | 2,450 | 63.8 | 23.4 | 6.3 | D− |
| 1743 | Williton Somerset | 2,433 | 69.9 | 18.4 | 9.5 | D− |
| 1744 | Winwick Cheshire | 2,062 | 79.2 | 13.1 | 5.5 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Salfords, and others in Surrey.
Crime in Salfords 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 16 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Salfords has moved
“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 -13% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +29% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft +15% (towns its size +4%).
One person died in collisions on Salfords’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 34 collisions with injuries inside Salfords in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 6 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Salfords’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Salfords’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; Salfords had 6.
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 Salfords’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Salfords
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salfords | 1,873 | 61.6 | 25.3 | D− |
| Horley | 27,067 | 28.5 | 10.8 | C+ |
| South Nutfield | 1,951 | 7.2 | 8.7 | A |
| Redhill | 32,516 | 40.6 | 13.4 | C− |
| Reigate | 23,774 | 20 | 9.8 | B |
| Smallfield | 2,613 | 42.2 | 14.8 | D |
| Bletchingley | 2,372 | 24 | 13.6 | C+ |
| South Merstham | 9,953 | 32.4 | 16.1 | C− |
Salfords records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Horley, 1.7 miles away, records 28.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Salfords’s 61.6.
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 Salfords 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 Salfords
Is Salfords safe?
Police recorded 61.6 violent and sexual offences and 25.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Salfords’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 3% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Salfords has less crime per resident than 1%.
Is crime going up in Salfords?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 13%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 29%, shoplifting and theft rose 15% and anti-social behaviour fell 39%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Salfords?
Violence & sexual offences: 99 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (55) and criminal damage & arson (27), with 11 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Salfords compare with Crawley?
Crawley records 42.7 violent and sexual offences and 15 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Salfords’s 61.6 and 25.3, 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.