Photo: Gillie Rhodes · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Birmingham records more crime than 98% of UK towns
Recorded violence held steady in a year. Of all the kinds of crime, possession of weapons is where Birmingham departs most from towns its size: 3.3 per 1,000 against 1.1. The Safety Grade comes out at D−, drawn from crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026: #32 of 35 in West Midlands. Year on year, 62.8 violent and sexual offences and 28.5 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 stands out about safety in Birmingham
More crime than many places its size
Of 6 UK towns and cities of 402,000 to 2,957,000 people, Birmingham has the 5th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Leeds, higher than Leicester, Liverpool and Bristol. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
46% of Birmingham’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 3% 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.
The grade: D− for Birmingham
A firm grade. Built on 306,601 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Birmingham 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, Birmingham runs highest on possession of weapons (3.3 per 1,000 against 1.1), theft from the person (1.6 per 1,000 against 0.7) and robbery (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.4). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 63,923 | 57 | 38.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 12,478 | 11.1 | 4.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 12,123 | 10.8 | 10.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 11,947 | 10.7 | 7.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 9,361 | 8.3 | 7.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 9,264 | 8.3 | 6.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6,706 | 6 | 3.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 5,579 | 5 | 17.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4,949 | 4.4 | 3.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3,670 | 3.3 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3,531 | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2,603 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1,771 | 1.6 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 704 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
46% of Birmingham residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
3% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 46% 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.
Birmingham’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.
Lowest recorded crime in Rubery North, Wythall West and Cofton; highest in Ladywood
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubery North | 3,094 | 14.3 | 8.1 | |
| Wythall West | 728 | 13.7 | 8.7 | |
| Cofton | 2,921 | 14.5 | 11.2 | |
| Hall Green South | 10,679 | 20.2 | 14.7 | |
| Rubery South | 3,325 | 31.3 | 16.1 | |
| Castle Bromwich | 11,459 | 27.3 | 24 | |
| Small Heath | 21,970 | 40.4 | 15 | |
| Oscott | 20,564 | 40.6 | 16.1 | |
| Edgbaston | 18,728 | 30.5 | 28.4 | |
| Yardley East | 11,056 | 40.5 | 18.5 | |
| Quinton | 21,373 | 37.8 | 21.4 | |
| Sheldon | 19,665 | 39.6 | 20.1 | |
| Bournville & Cotteridge | 19,179 | 39.3 | 20.4 | |
| Alum Rock | 28,025 | 44.3 | 17.1 | |
| Hall Green North | 24,555 | 41.5 | 20 | |
| Allens Cross | 11,128 | 43.2 | 18.7 | |
| Billesley | 21,172 | 41.6 | 21.4 | |
| Handsworth Wood | 20,398 | 43.5 | 19.6 | |
| Druids Heath & Monyhull | 11,638 | 43.7 | 20.2 | |
| Rubery & Rednal | 10,021 | 52.1 | 16.9 | |
| Smith's Wood | 12,994 | 48.5 | 23.7 | |
| Sparkhill | 21,469 | 54.8 | 19 | |
| Highter's Heath | 10,540 | 49.2 | 26.7 | |
| Weoley & Selly Oak | 23,515 | 51.2 | 25.3 | |
| Longbridge & West Heath | 21,654 | 53.1 | 23.5 | |
| Ward End | 13,707 | 56.5 | 20.1 | |
| Bournbrook & Selly Park | 22,374 | 46.9 | 30.2 | |
| Shard End | 12,330 | 54.3 | 24.1 | |
| Kingstanding | 21,148 | 57.2 | 21.8 | |
| South Yardley | 10,460 | 52.4 | 26.8 | |
| Moseley | 21,832 | 52.1 | 27.6 | |
| Bromford & Hodge Hill | 22,386 | 56.5 | 23.6 | |
| Garretts Green | 11,494 | 55.6 | 25.1 | |
| Brandwood & King's Heath | 18,787 | 52.3 | 29.8 | |
| Stirchley | 10,121 | 49.7 | 33 | |
| Perry Common | 12,047 | 61.2 | 22.9 | |
| Castle Vale | 9,938 | 60.1 | 24 | |
| Balsall Heath West | 12,157 | 56.9 | 27.4 | |
| Sutton Walmley & Minworth | 2,648 | 42.4 | 42.5 | |
| Bartley Green | 22,461 | 57.7 | 27.6 | |
| Erdington | 21,201 | 60.7 | 25.1 | |
| Kingshurst and Fordbridge | 13,338 | 56.6 | 30.5 | |
| King's Norton North | 11,651 | 56.7 | 31.1 | |
| Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East | 27,333 | 62.3 | 26.3 | |
| Pype Hayes | 11,060 | 60.4 | 28.9 | |
| Lozells | 12,119 | 68.3 | 21.8 | |
| Aston | 24,448 | 67.4 | 22.9 | |
| Harborne | 22,999 | 61.2 | 29.4 | |
| Perry Barr | 20,294 | 63.7 | 27.4 | |
| King's Norton South | 11,586 | 65.1 | 26.4 | |
| Northfield | 10,406 | 61 | 30.8 | |
| Birchfield | 12,468 | 69 | 23.8 | |
| Heartlands | 13,388 | 73.2 | 21.3 | |
| Tyseley & Hay Mills | 11,681 | 65 | 30.4 | |
| Frankley Great Park | 12,656 | 65.4 | 30.2 | |
| Acocks Green | 24,488 | 73.4 | 28.4 | |
| Glebe Farm & Tile Cross | 24,530 | 71 | 32.2 | |
| Stockland Green | 23,595 | 75.4 | 28.3 | |
| Holyhead | 11,315 | 78 | 29.8 | |
| Chelmsley Wood | 13,271 | 68.1 | 41 | |
| North Edgbaston | 22,104 | 71.9 | 37.9 | |
| St Pauls | 698 | 82.6 | 29.1 | |
| Yardley West & Stechford | 13,589 | 81 | 31.5 | |
| Bordesley Green | 12,984 | 76.4 | 37 | |
| Gravelly Hill | 10,500 | 88.4 | 32.4 | |
| Nechells | 16,143 | 77.8 | 44.5 | |
| Handsworth | 11,822 | 97.2 | 36.6 | |
| Soho & Jewellery Quarter | 25,483 | 93.9 | 49.5 | |
| Abbey | 2,036 | 108.2 | 43.4 | |
| Bickenhill | 8,796 | 79.9 | 73.3 | |
| Newtown | 16,285 | 110.6 | 44.3 | |
| Bordesley & Highgate | 15,059 | 165 | 78.4 | |
| Ladywood | 25,740 | 193.8 | 61.6 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 23,856 | 40% violent |
| Supermarkets | 17,587 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 13,849 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 11,844 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 4,020 | 53% violent |
| College and university buildings | 3,697 | 45% violent |
| Nightclubs | 3,100 | 46% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 3,038 | 43% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 2,875 | 52% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 1,698 | 43% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Ladywood records 3.3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Birmingham. 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 Birmingham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Birmingham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Set against 6 towns its size, Birmingham is 5th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheffield South Yorkshire | 500,520 | 42.4 | 23.7 | 20.9 | D |
| 2 | Leicester Leicestershire | 406,612 | 49 | 23.2 | 22.1 | D |
| 3 | Liverpool Merseyside | 506,564 | 54 | 20.2 | 20.9 | D |
| 4 | Bristol Bristol | 425,196 | 55.3 | 25.9 | 26.9 | D− |
| 5 | Birmingham West Midlands | 1,121,367 | 62.8 | 28.5 | 21.5 | D− |
| 6 | Leeds West Yorkshire | 536,262 | 65.4 | 29.8 | 30.6 | 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 Birmingham, and others in West Midlands.
Crime in Birmingham 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 28 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 21 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 Birmingham has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +3% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles +3% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -54% (towns its size -2%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 68% of Birmingham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 18% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (70% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 4% 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. 104,897 crimes.
106 people died in collisions on Birmingham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 11,138 collisions with injuries inside Birmingham in five years, in which 106 people died (41 were pedestrians and 6 were cyclists). 2,308 people were killed or seriously injured: 831 on foot and 239 on a bicycle.
That is 1.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Birmingham had 41.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 36% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Birmingham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Birmingham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 1,121,367 | 62.8 | 28.5 | D− |
| Smethwick | 56,343 | 51.1 | 20.1 | D |
| Solihull | 107,754 | 28.4 | 19.2 | C− |
| Oldbury | 45,188 | 49.6 | 22.7 | D |
| Hollywood | 6,944 | 17.3 | 12.6 | B |
| Pheasey | 9,498 | 18 | 10.6 | B |
| Dickens Heath | 4,797 | 19.6 | 12.1 | B− |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 54.4 | 24.7 | D− |
Birmingham records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Smethwick, 3.9 miles away, records 51.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Birmingham’s 62.8.
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 4,020 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Birmingham’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 Birmingham 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 Birmingham
Is Birmingham safe?
Police recorded 62.8 violent and sexual offences and 28.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Birmingham’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among 6 UK towns of 402,000 to 2,957,000 people, Birmingham is 5th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Birmingham?
By council ward, Rubery North, Wythall West and Cofton record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.3, 13.7 and 14.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 193.8 in Ladywood.
Is crime going up in Birmingham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 54%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Birmingham city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 3,100 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 46% of them violent, and Ladywood ward records 193.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Birmingham?
Violence & sexual offences: 63,923 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came vehicle crime (12,478) and shoplifting (12,123), with 5,579 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.