Photo: Roger D Kidd · CC BY-SA 2.0Wolverhampton records more crime per resident than 94% of UK towns
Out of every 1,000 residents, 50.6 violent and sexual offences and 21.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually. Measured on crimes police recorded inside Wolverhampton’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #23 of 35 in West Midlands. Possession of weapons: police recorded 456 here in the 12 months to August 2026, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against 1.1 in a typical town its size.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Wolverhampton
More crime than many places its size
Of 47 UK towns and cities of 164,000 to 316,000 people, Wolverhampton has the 38th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Camden, higher than Islington, Portsmouth and Newcastle upon Tyne. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
35% of Wolverhampton’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 14% 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.
Wolverhampton: D for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 50,688 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wolverhampton 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, Wolverhampton runs highest on possession of weapons (1.9 per 1,000 against 1.1), vehicle crime (7.3 per 1,000 against 4.9) and violence & sexual offences (45.6 per 1,000 against 38.6). Drugs and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 10,671 | 45.6 | 38.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2,739 | 11.7 | 10.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,940 | 8.3 | 7.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1,714 | 7.3 | 4.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1,490 | 6.4 | 6.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,364 | 5.8 | 7.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 911 | 3.9 | 17.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 736 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 628 | 2.7 | 3.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 482 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 456 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 281 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 200 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 198 | 0.8 | 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.
Of 47 towns its size, Wolverhampton is 38th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Islington London | 216,309 | 44.1 | 24.3 | 54.8 | D |
| 36 | Portsmouth Hampshire | 223,324 | 53.5 | 16.8 | 22.8 | D |
| 37 | Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear | 286,472 | 47.8 | 24.2 | 29.9 | D |
| 38 | Wolverhampton West Midlands | 234,029 | 50.6 | 21.7 | 20.1 | D |
| 39 | Sunderland Tyne and Wear | 168,323 | 47 | 25.9 | 22.6 | D |
| 40 | Derby Derbyshire | 275,561 | 57 | 17.8 | 20.5 | D |
| 41 | Peterborough Cambridgeshire | 190,592 | 54.2 | 21.1 | 21.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | 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 Wolverhampton, and others in West Midlands.
35% of Wolverhampton residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
14% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 35% 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.
Wolverhampton’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.
Crime in Wolverhampton 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 19 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 20 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 Wombourne North and Lower Penn, Tettenhall Wightwick and Penn; highest in St Peter's
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wombourne North and Lower Penn | 1,539 | 13.2 | 9.5 | |
| Tettenhall Wightwick | 10,648 | 20.3 | 13.1 | |
| Penn | 12,847 | 27.8 | 10.3 | |
| Bilston North | 4,147 | 23.7 | 15 | |
| Tettenhall Regis | 12,230 | 27.1 | 12 | |
| Oxley | 12,483 | 32.8 | 10.9 | |
| Merry Hill | 12,375 | 34 | 13 | |
| Bushbury North | 11,654 | 33 | 19.3 | |
| Spring Vale | 12,008 | 35.3 | 17.5 | |
| Wednesfield North | 11,189 | 36.9 | 16.1 | |
| Fallings Park | 12,356 | 43.9 | 20.5 | |
| Bushbury South and Low Hill | 17,960 | 54.5 | 20.6 | |
| Graiseley | 12,942 | 52.1 | 23.5 | |
| Blakenhall | 12,616 | 50.7 | 27.4 | |
| East Park | 12,263 | 53 | 25.5 | |
| Park | 12,743 | 55 | 25.4 | |
| Wednesfield South | 11,892 | 60 | 30 | |
| Ettingshall | 11,025 | 73 | 28.6 | |
| Heath Town | 14,806 | 100.4 | 33.8 | |
| St Peter's | 13,524 | 112.5 | 41 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 3,893 | 64% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 2,743 | 37% violent |
| Petrol stations | 1,667 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 897 | 50% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 830 | 58% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 790 | 42% violent |
| Police stations | 749 | 42% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 200 | 48% violent |
| College and university buildings | 156 | 44% violent |
| Nightclubs | 150 | 47% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so St Peter's records 2.4× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Wolverhampton. 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 Wolverhampton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Wolverhampton’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police in Wolverhampton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 61% of Wolverhampton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 14% 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 6% of violent and 6% 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. 18,737 crimes.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +1% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -9% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -57% (towns its size -2%).
17 people died in collisions on Wolverhampton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 1,779 collisions with injuries inside Wolverhampton in five years, in which 17 people died (5 were pedestrians). 351 people were killed or seriously injured: 117 on foot and 38 on a bicycle.
That is 1.5 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, Wolverhampton had 30.0 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 33% 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 Wolverhampton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wolverhampton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverhampton | 234,029 | 50.6 | 21.7 | D |
| Bilston | 34,631 | 58.9 | 29.4 | D− |
| Perton | 9,302 | 24.1 | 6.1 | B |
| Willenhall | 49,582 | 44.1 | 28.8 | D |
| Coseley | 25,206 | 35.8 | 19.6 | C− |
| Essington | 3,471 | 32.8 | 15.9 | C− |
| Featherstone | 7,096 | 24.5 | 9.2 | B− |
| Codsall | 11,867 | 21.8 | 8.7 | B |
Wolverhampton records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Bilston and Willenhall record more. Perton, 3.4 miles away, records 24.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wolverhampton’s 50.6.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 830 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Wolverhampton’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 Wolverhampton 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 Wolverhampton
Is Wolverhampton safe?
Police recorded 50.6 violent and sexual offences and 21.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wolverhampton’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 6% of UK towns. Among 47 UK towns of 164,000 to 316,000 people, Wolverhampton is 38th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Wolverhampton?
By council ward, Wombourne North and Lower Penn, Tettenhall Wightwick and Penn record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13.2, 20.3 and 27.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 112.5 in St Peter's.
Is crime going up in Wolverhampton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 9%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 57%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Wolverhampton city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 150 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 47% of them violent, and St Peter's ward records 112.5 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 Wolverhampton?
Violence & sexual offences: 10,671 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (2,739) and criminal damage & arson (1,940), with 911 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.