Harris and Pearson Entrance Building · Photo: Noisar · CC BY-SA 2.0Brierley Hill has more crime per resident than 93% of UK towns
The grade is D, built on crimes police recorded inside Brierley Hill’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #18 of 35 in West Midlands. Police counts work out at 47.5 violent and sexual offences and 22.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. With 722 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, shoplifting reaches 22.3 per 1,000 residents locally, well above the typical 6.1. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Brierley Hill
More crime than many places its size
Of 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Brierley Hill has the 169th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Truro, Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock and Newton Aycliffe, higher than Darwen, Jarrow and Chichester. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Brierley Hill’s D
A firm grade. Built on 6,791 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Brierley Hill 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, Brierley Hill runs highest on shoplifting (22.3 per 1,000 against 6.1), robbery (1.9 per 1,000 against 0.5) and possession of weapons (2.1 per 1,000 against 0.7). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,393 | 43.1 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 722 | 22.3 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 271 | 8.4 | 6.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 248 | 7.7 | 2.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 201 | 6.2 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 197 | 6.1 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 188 | 5.8 | 4.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 112 | 3.5 | 12.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 105 | 3.2 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 70 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 68 | 2.1 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 61 | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 20 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 15 | 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.
Set against 196 towns its size, Brierley Hill is 169th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Sedgley West Midlands | 31,976 | 32 | 19 | 7.8 | C− |
| 112 | Rowley Regis West Midlands | 39,052 | 36.6 | 14.4 | 7.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 134 | Coseley West Midlands | 25,206 | 35.8 | 19.6 | 9.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 166 | Darwen Lancashire | 27,897 | 48 | 19.3 | 10.3 | D |
| 167 | Jarrow Tyne and Wear | 29,467 | 46.8 | 21.7 | 28.4 | D |
| 168 | Chichester West Sussex | 31,709 | 50.1 | 19.3 | 36.7 | D |
| 169 | Brierley Hill West Midlands | 32,311 | 47.5 | 22.6 | 29.3 | D |
| 170 | Ilkeston Derbyshire | 38,723 | 55 | 17.2 | 17.6 | D |
| 171 | Fleetwood Lancashire | 26,224 | 54.4 | 17.8 | 15.9 | D |
| 172 | Blyth Northumberland | 39,731 | 49.3 | 23.2 | 28.1 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 191 | Bilston West Midlands | 34,631 | 58.9 | 29.4 | 26.7 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 196 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Brierley Hill, and others in West Midlands.
Crime in Brierley Hill 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 22 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 29 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Amblecote, Lye and Stourbridge North and Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood; highest in Brierley Hill
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amblecote | 7,429 | 14.9 | 12 | |
| Lye and Stourbridge North | 4,133 | 16.3 | 13.3 | |
| Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood | 6,857 | 33.4 | 17.7 | |
| Brockmoor and Pensnett | 3,776 | 50.5 | 21.9 | |
| Brierley Hill | 10,116 | 91.6 | 36.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 798 | 46% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 775 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 630 | 37% violent |
| Police stations | 204 | 40% violent |
| Petrol stations | 183 | 32% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 112 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 41 | 39% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Brierley Hill records 3.4× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Brierley Hill. 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 Brierley Hill. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Brierley Hill’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 65% of Brierley Hill’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (71% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% 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. 2,388 crimes.
How Brierley Hill’s neighbourhoods rank in England
27% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 25% 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.
Brierley Hill’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.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +4% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +2% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +3% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -63% (towns its size -4%).
Two people died in collisions on Brierley Hill’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 222 collisions with injuries inside Brierley Hill in five years, in which two people died (2 were pedestrians). 53 people were killed or seriously injured: 18 on foot and 8 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 Brierley Hill’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Brierley Hill’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Brierley Hill had 32.8 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). 34% 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 Brierley Hill’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Brierley Hill
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brierley Hill | 32,311 | 47.5 | 22.6 | D |
| Stourbridge | 56,961 | 33 | 16.1 | C− |
| Kingswinford | 51,900 | 24.8 | 14.3 | C+ |
| Cradley Heath | 18,819 | 52.5 | 20.2 | D |
| Dudley | 64,277 | 61.2 | 27 | D− |
| Halesowen | 60,103 | 27.2 | 14.9 | C |
| Blackheath | 6,950 | 63.9 | 22.1 | D− |
| Hagley | 7,012 | 13.3 | 8.6 | A− |
Brierley Hill records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Stourbridge, 1.7 miles away, records 33 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Brierley Hill’s 47.5.
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 Brierley Hill 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 Brierley Hill
Is Brierley Hill safe?
Police recorded 47.5 violent and sexual offences and 22.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Brierley Hill’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 7% of UK towns. Among 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Brierley Hill is 169th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Brierley Hill?
By council ward, Amblecote, Lye and Stourbridge North and Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.9, 16.3 and 33.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 91.6 in Brierley Hill.
Is crime going up in Brierley Hill?
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 63%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Brierley Hill?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,393 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (722) and criminal damage & arson (271), with 112 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Brierley Hill compare with Dudley?
Dudley records 61.2 violent and sexual offences and 27 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Brierley Hill’s 47.5 and 22.6, 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.