Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0Set against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Chippenham records less crime than 73%
Violent crime was up 13% in a year. It has less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 57% of UK towns, but less violent crime than only 39%. The overall Safety Grade is C+ (#19 of 30 in Wiltshire), which means close to the middle of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The yearly rates were 27.1 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage 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 Chippenham
One ward carries much of the rate
Chippenham Hardens & Central ward, where 44% of Chippenham’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 980 of Chippenham’s 2,926 violent and sexual offences in three years: 63.3 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Chippenham the figure is 19.5. Where in Chippenham ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 13% more violent crime per resident in Chippenham 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 9% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 186 UK towns of 25,000 to 49,000 people, Chippenham has the 28th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Metropolitan Lisburn, Leighton Buzzard and Penarth, higher than Lancing and Sompting, East Grinstead and Hitchin. 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. 23% of Chippenham’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 4% 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’s behind Chippenham’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 3,857 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Chippenham 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, Chippenham runs highest on anti-social behaviour (17.8 per 1,000 against 12.4). Burglary and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,014 | 28.1 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 644 | 17.8 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 238 | 6.6 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 193 | 5.3 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 185 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 140 | 3.9 | 4.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 73 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 54 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 40 | 1.1 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 36 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 18 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 16 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 10 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 7 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
“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.
Among 186 towns its size, Chippenham ranks 28th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Lancing and Sompting West Sussex | 27,924 | 25.6 | 9.1 | 15.5 | B− |
| 26 | East Grinstead West Sussex | 26,350 | 23.2 | 11.6 | 10.8 | B− |
| 27 | Hitchin Hertfordshire | 35,220 | 24.7 | 10.2 | 13.9 | B− |
| 28 | Chippenham Wiltshire | 36,084 | 27.1 | 8.7 | 11.9 | C+ |
| 29 | Burgess Hill West Sussex | 33,352 | 23.1 | 12.8 | 14.8 | C+ |
| 30 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | 27,095 | 22.9 | 13.1 | 5.7 | C+ |
| 31 | Portishead Somerset | 26,351 | 27.9 | 8.3 | 11.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 73 | Trowbridge Wiltshire | 43,753 | 33.5 | 12 | 15.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 90 | Salisbury Wiltshire | 47,690 | 34.3 | 15.1 | 16.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 186 | 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 Chippenham, and others in Wiltshire.
1 in 4 Chippenham residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
65% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 4% 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.
Chippenham’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 Chippenham Cepen Park & Hunters Moon, Chippenham Monkton and Chippenham Pewsham; highest in Chippenham Hardens & Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chippenham Cepen Park & Hunters Moon | 4,498 | 7.9 | 3.4 | |
| Chippenham Monkton | 2,790 | 13.5 | 6 | |
| Chippenham Pewsham | 4,912 | 17 | 3.8 | |
| Chippenham Cepen Park & Derriads | 4,991 | 19.5 | 7.7 | |
| Chippenham Lowden & Rowden | 3,454 | 22.7 | 9 | |
| Chippenham Hardenhuish | 4,707 | 24.1 | 8 | |
| Chippenham Sheldon | 5,393 | 28.6 | 9.3 | |
| Chippenham Hardens & Central | 5,158 | 63.3 | 17.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 702 | 34% anti-social behaviour |
| Car parks | 487 | 32% violent |
| Petrol stations | 408 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 261 | 36% shoplifting & theft |
| College and university buildings | 90 | 52% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Chippenham Hardens & Central records 3.2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Chippenham. 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 Chippenham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Chippenham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How crime in Chippenham 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 +13% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -9% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -16% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +17% (towns its size -4%).
Police in Chippenham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 62% of Chippenham’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” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 5% 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. 1,299 crimes.
Crime in Chippenham 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Chippenham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 182 collisions with injuries inside Chippenham in five years. 31 people were killed or seriously injured: 10 on foot and 9 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 Chippenham’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Chippenham’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Chippenham had 16.9 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). 32% 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 Chippenham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Chippenham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chippenham | 36,084 | 27.1 | 8.7 | C+ |
| Derry Hill and Studley | 1,027 | 15.6 | 10.4 | B+ |
| Corsham | 10,887 | 19.6 | 7 | B+ |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 17.9 | 3.2 | A− |
| Rudloe | 2,863 | 13.4 | 6.4 | A− |
| Calne | 19,725 | 25.9 | 6.5 | B− |
| Atworth | 1,293 | 17 | 7.2 | B+ |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 10.3 | 6.9 | A |
Chippenham records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Derry Hill and Studley, 3.1 miles away, records 15.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Chippenham’s 27.1.
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 Chippenham 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 Chippenham
Is Chippenham safe?
Police recorded 27.1 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Chippenham’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 43% of UK towns. Among 186 UK towns of 25,000 to 49,000 people, Chippenham is 28th from the least crime. 23% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Chippenham?
By council ward, Chippenham Cepen Park & Hunters Moon, Chippenham Monkton and Chippenham Pewsham record the least violent and household crime per resident: 7.9, 13.5 and 17 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 63.3 in Chippenham Hardens & Central.
Is crime going up in Chippenham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 13%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 9%, shoplifting and theft fell 16% and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Chippenham?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,014 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (238) and criminal damage & arson (193), with 644 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.