Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Oldbury than in 94% of UK towns
Violent crime here is higher than in 93% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 95%. Add to that, on crimes police recorded inside Oldbury’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades D for safety: #23 of 35 in West Midlands. Year on year, 49.6 violent and sexual offences and 22.7 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 Oldbury
One ward carries much of the rate
Oldbury ward, where 42% of Oldbury’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 1,369 of Oldbury’s 6,716 violent and sexual offences in three years: 102.9 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Oldbury the figure is 43.3. Where in Oldbury ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 151 UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000 people, Oldbury has the 129th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bridlington, Pontefract and Morecambe, higher than Tipton, Smethwick and Ilkeston. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Oldbury’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 9,792 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Oldbury 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, Oldbury runs highest on robbery (2 per 1,000 against 0.5), possession of weapons (2.4 per 1,000 against 0.7) and vehicle crime (9.3 per 1,000 against 2.8). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 2,038 | 45.1 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 516 | 11.4 | 6.1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 419 | 9.3 | 2.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 347 | 7.7 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 261 | 5.8 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 240 | 5.3 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 178 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 160 | 3.5 | 12.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 155 | 3.4 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 112 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 109 | 2.4 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 90 | 2 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 23 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 18 | 0.4 | 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.
Oldbury places 129th of 151 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Kingswinford West Midlands | 51,900 | 24.8 | 14.3 | 12.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Halesowen West Midlands | 60,103 | 27.2 | 14.9 | 9.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 66 | Stourbridge West Midlands | 56,961 | 33 | 16.1 | 16.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 73 | Rowley Regis West Midlands | 39,052 | 36.6 | 14.4 | 7.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 126 | Tipton West Midlands | 47,202 | 49.1 | 21.6 | 12 | D |
| 127 | Smethwick West Midlands | 56,343 | 51.1 | 20.1 | 10.7 | D |
| 128 | Ilkeston Derbyshire | 38,723 | 55 | 17.2 | 17.6 | D |
| 129 | Oldbury West Midlands | 45,188 | 49.6 | 22.7 | 17.9 | D |
| 130 | Blyth Northumberland | 39,731 | 49.3 | 23.2 | 28.1 | D |
| 131 | Willenhall West Midlands | 49,582 | 44.1 | 28.8 | 21.6 | D |
| 132 | Redcar North Yorkshire | 37,666 | 48.8 | 24.6 | 19.2 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Oldbury, and others in West Midlands.
Crime in Oldbury 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 21 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Oldbury’s neighbourhoods rank in England
4% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 9% 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.
Oldbury’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 Abbey, Old Warley and Smethwick; highest in Oldbury
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey | 656 | 25.4 | 12.7 | |
| Old Warley | 12,369 | 25.3 | 14.6 | |
| Smethwick | 991 | 51.8 | 19.8 | |
| Bristnall | 10,669 | 52.7 | 19.2 | |
| Langley | 8,765 | 50.6 | 22.1 | |
| Tividale | 2,239 | 47.5 | 27.2 | |
| St Pauls | 5,064 | 54 | 25.7 | |
| Oldbury | 4,435 | 102.9 | 49.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 801 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 588 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 556 | 70% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 345 | 43% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 76 | 47% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 25 | 28% homes & vehicles |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Oldbury records 2.4× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Oldbury. 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 Oldbury. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Oldbury’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 67% of Oldbury’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” (69% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% of violent and 3% 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. 3,474 crimes.
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 +1% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +2% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -5% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -57% (towns its size -4%).
Four people died in collisions on Oldbury’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 495 collisions with injuries inside Oldbury in five years, in which four people died (3 were pedestrians). 106 people were killed or seriously injured: 35 on foot and 10 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 Oldbury’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Oldbury’s own rate (1.8) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Oldbury had 46.9 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). 33% 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 Oldbury’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Oldbury
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oldbury | 45,188 | 49.6 | 22.7 | D |
| Blackheath | 6,950 | 63.9 | 22.1 | D− |
| Smethwick | 56,343 | 51.1 | 20.1 | D |
| Rowley Regis | 39,052 | 36.6 | 14.4 | C− |
| Cradley Heath | 18,819 | 52.5 | 20.2 | D |
| Halesowen | 60,103 | 27.2 | 14.9 | C |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 54.4 | 24.7 | D− |
| Dudley | 64,277 | 61.2 | 27 | D− |
Oldbury records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Smethwick, 1.6 miles away, records 51.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Oldbury’s 49.6.
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 Oldbury 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 Oldbury
Is Oldbury safe?
Police recorded 49.6 violent and sexual offences and 22.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Oldbury’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 6% of UK towns. Among 151 UK towns of 32,000 to 61,000 people, Oldbury is 129th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Oldbury?
By council ward, Abbey, Old Warley and Smethwick record the least violent and household crime per resident: 25.4, 25.3 and 51.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 102.9 in Oldbury.
Is crime going up in Oldbury?
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 57%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Oldbury?
Violence & sexual offences: 2,038 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (516) and vehicle crime (419), with 160 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Oldbury compare with Birmingham?
Birmingham records 62.8 violent and sexual offences and 28.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Oldbury’s 49.6 and 22.7, 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.