Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Less crime per resident is recorded in Ilkley than in 84% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
Of all the kinds of crime, burglary is where Ilkley departs most from towns its size: 4.5 per 1,000 against 2.4. Its letter overall is B− (#12 of 91 in West Yorkshire): close to the middle of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Violence recorded locally dropped 20% 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 Ilkley
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 20% less violent crime per resident in Ilkley than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 32% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 372 UK towns of 10,000 to 20,000 people, Ilkley has the 69th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Weybridge, Tidworth and Kidlington, higher than Codsall, Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley and Pocklington. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 41% of Ilkley’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Ilkley’s B−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,359 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Ilkley against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A third of Ilkley residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
41% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Ilkley’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Ilkley runs highest on burglary (4.5 per 1,000 against 2.4) and shoplifting (7.9 per 1,000 against 6.1). Criminal damage & arson and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 222 | 14.9 | 30.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 117 | 7.9 | 6.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 67 | 4.5 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 67 | 4.5 | 12.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 58 | 3.9 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 47 | 3.2 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 34 | 2.3 | 6.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 32 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 18 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 12 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Robbery | Violent | 11 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.1 | 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.
How crime in Ilkley has moved
“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 -20% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -32% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -5% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -29% (towns its size -4%).
Among 372 towns its size, Ilkley ranks 69th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 66 | Codsall Staffordshire | 11,867 | 21.8 | 8.7 | 9.7 | B |
| 67 | Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley Kent | 16,077 | 17.1 | 13.4 | 10.8 | B− |
| 68 | Pocklington East Riding of Yorkshire | 10,124 | 24.4 | 6.2 | 5.5 | B− |
| 69 | Ilkley West Yorkshire | 14,852 | 18.1 | 12.7 | 13 | B− |
| 70 | Bingham Nottinghamshire | 10,109 | 20.5 | 10.3 | 7.1 | B− |
| 71 | Cobham Surrey | 17,505 | 19.5 | 11.3 | 10.1 | B− |
| 72 | Royston Hertfordshire | 17,443 | 20.6 | 10.3 | 9.9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Garforth West Yorkshire | 15,148 | 23 | 10.9 | 7.9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 118 | Honley West Yorkshire | 14,399 | 26.4 | 8.6 | 5.3 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 136 | Otley West Yorkshire | 14,549 | 25.6 | 11.3 | 9.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 169 | Kippax West Yorkshire | 10,299 | 27.4 | 12.7 | 6.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 372 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Ilkley, and others in West Yorkshire.
Police in Ilkley identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 77% of Ilkley’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 25% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (58% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 7% 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. 501 crimes.
For every 1,000 residents, about 16 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
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 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 12 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Where in Ilkley police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 387 | 68% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 74 | 35% homes & vehicles |
| Bus and coach stations | 40 | 35% anti-social behaviour |
| Car parks | 28 | 25% anti-social behaviour |
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 Ilkley. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Ilkley’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 55 collisions with injuries inside Ilkley in five years. 13 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 on foot and 2 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 Ilkley’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Ilkley’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Ilkley had 17.7 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Ilkley’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Ilkley
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilkley | 14,852 | 18.1 | 12.7 | B− |
| Burley in Wharfedale | 6,806 | 15.1 | 8.6 | B+ |
| Addingham | 3,247 | 13.2 | 8.9 | A− |
| East Morton | 1,227 | 10.9 | 7.3 | A |
| Menston | 5,905 | 20.5 | 9.1 | B |
| Silsden | 8,392 | 30.1 | 11.6 | C |
| Otley | 14,549 | 25.6 | 11.3 | C+ |
| Bingley | 21,334 | 37 | 14.6 | C− |
Ilkley records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Burley in Wharfedale, 2.9 miles away, records 15.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Ilkley’s 18.1.
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 Ilkley 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 Ilkley
Is Ilkley safe?
Police recorded 18.1 violent and sexual offences and 12.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Ilkley’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 54% of UK towns. Among 372 UK towns of 10,000 to 20,000 people, Ilkley is 69th from the least crime. 41% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Ilkley?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 20%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 32%, shoplifting and theft fell 5% and anti-social behaviour fell 29%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Ilkley?
Violence & sexual offences: 222 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (117) and burglary (67), with 67 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Ilkley compare with Keighley?
Keighley records 70.7 violent and sexual offences and 24.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Ilkley’s 18.1 and 12.7, 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.