Photo: Pebble · CC BY-SA 2.0On violent crime, Crawley has a higher rate per resident than 87% of UK towns
Scored on crimes police recorded inside Crawley’s built-up area across September 2023 to August 2026, the town lands on D for safety: #38 of 40 in West Sussex. Violent crime barely moved in a year. Year on year, 42.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. Of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, 56% record more crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Crawley
One ward carries much of the rate
Northgate & West Green ward, where 44% of Crawley’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 3,749 of Crawley’s 15,385 violent and sexual offences in three years: 108 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Crawley the figure is 35.6. Where in Crawley ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 54 UK towns and cities of 84,000 to 163,000 people, Crawley has the 17th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Gillingham, Derry City and Chelmsford, higher than Basingstoke, Stevenage and Ipswich. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Crawley’s D
A firm grade. Built on 20,788 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Crawley against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Lowest recorded crime in Maidenbower, Pound Hill South & Worth and Furnace Green; highest in Northgate & West Green
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maidenbower | 9,352 | 17.2 | 5.8 | |
| Pound Hill South & Worth | 8,390 | 19.2 | 9.5 | |
| Furnace Green | 6,002 | 21.8 | 8.4 | |
| Colgate & Rusper | 3,040 | 20.2 | 10.4 | |
| Gossops Green & North East Broadfield | 6,562 | 25.6 | 10.3 | |
| Pound Hill North & Forge Wood | 8,796 | 26.9 | 10.6 | |
| Ifield | 10,576 | 30.9 | 12.3 | |
| Tilgate | 6,512 | 37.3 | 12.4 | |
| Bewbush & North Broadfield | 11,242 | 37.3 | 14 | |
| Broadfield | 10,152 | 44.2 | 17.7 | |
| Southgate | 9,608 | 48.8 | 14.4 | |
| Langley Green & Tushmore | 9,108 | 55.4 | 18.2 | |
| Three Bridges | 9,651 | 56.7 | 18.3 | |
| Northgate & West Green | 11,576 | 108 | 33.9 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 3,683 | 29% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 3,541 | 63% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 2,577 | 37% violent |
| College and university buildings | 767 | 45% drugs, public order & other |
| Petrol stations | 537 | 42% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 428 | 44% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 367 | 42% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 149 | 38% violent |
| Hospitals | 82 | 51% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 48 | 50% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Northgate & West Green records 3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Crawley. 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 Crawley. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Crawley’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Crawley 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 14 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.
Towns its size: Crawley comes 17th of 54
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poole Dorset | 141,009 | 26.2 | 14.4 | 12.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 3 | Worthing West Sussex | 111,635 | 34.1 | 12.6 | 24.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | Basingstoke Hampshire | 117,211 | 41.3 | 13.1 | 13.5 | C− |
| 15 | Stevenage Hertfordshire | 94,462 | 42.1 | 13.3 | 18.4 | C− |
| 16 | Ipswich Suffolk | 151,566 | 41 | 14.9 | 20.1 | C− |
| 17 | Crawley West Sussex | 120,567 | 42.7 | 15 | 22.5 | D |
| 18 | Chester Cheshire | 92,756 | 46.9 | 10.8 | 18.9 | D |
| 19 | Telford Shropshire | 156,890 | 44.8 | 13 | 17.6 | D |
| 20 | Bath Somerset | 94,080 | 41.6 | 16.9 | 28.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 54 | Middlesbrough North Yorkshire | 148,232 | 70.8 | 40.1 | 30.1 | 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 Crawley, and others in West Sussex.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Crawley runs highest on possession of weapons (1.6 per 1,000 against 1.1), public order (9.7 per 1,000 against 7.4) and drugs (4.9 per 1,000 against 3.8). Burglary and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 4,637 | 38.5 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 2,594 | 21.5 | 17.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,614 | 13.4 | 10.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,168 | 9.7 | 7.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 894 | 7.4 | 7.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 795 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 596 | 4.9 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 448 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 313 | 2.6 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 240 | 2 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 192 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 148 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 74 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 71 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
“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.
How Crawley’s neighbourhoods rank in England
11% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 14% 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.
Crawley’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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 73% of Crawley’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” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% 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. 7,309 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 -2% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -5% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +1% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +36% (towns its size -2%).
Seven people died in collisions on Crawley’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 933 collisions with injuries inside Crawley in five years, in which seven people died (3 were pedestrians). 237 people were killed or seriously injured: 47 on foot and 36 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Crawley’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Crawley’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Crawley had 39.3 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). 20% 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 Crawley’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Crawley
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawley | 120,567 | 42.7 | 15 | D |
| Pease Pottage | 1,688 | 37.5 | 13.4 | C− |
| Copthorne | 4,917 | 34.2 | 15.8 | C− |
| Handcross | 1,399 | 28.8 | 10.5 | C+ |
| Balcombe | 1,445 | 10.8 | 10.2 | A− |
| Horley | 27,067 | 28.5 | 10.8 | C+ |
| Crawley Down | 5,775 | 13.2 | 5.3 | A |
| Smallfield | 2,613 | 42.2 | 14.8 | D |
Crawley records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Pease Pottage, 2 miles away, records 37.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Crawley’s 42.7.
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 82 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Crawley’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 Crawley 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 Crawley
Is Crawley safe?
Police recorded 42.7 violent and sexual offences and 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Crawley’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 14% of UK towns. Among 54 UK towns of 84,000 to 163,000 people, Crawley is 17th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Crawley?
By council ward, Maidenbower, Pound Hill South & Worth and Furnace Green record the least violent and household crime per resident: 17.2, 19.2 and 21.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 108 in Northgate & West Green.
Is crime going up in Crawley?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 5%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 36%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Crawley city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 428 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 44% of them violent, and Northgate & West Green ward records 108 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in May and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Crawley?
Violence & sexual offences: 4,637 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (1,614) and public order (1,168), with 2,594 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.