Photo: Oscar Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0Malmesbury records shoplifting at 3.9 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violence and property crime split as 18.0 violent and sexual offences and 7.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year. For its size, it sits below 76% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people on crime per resident. Malmesbury’s letter overall is B+ (#4 of 30 in Wiltshire): less crime per resident than 70% of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Malmesbury
Less crime than most places its size
Of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Malmesbury has the 91st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Burwell, Hedon and Wivenhoe, higher than Broadbridge Heath, Haddenham and Portstewart. 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. 51% of Malmesbury’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.
Inside Malmesbury’s B+ for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 539 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Malmesbury against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Most Malmesbury residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
74% 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.
Malmesbury’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, Malmesbury runs highest on shoplifting (7.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), public order (4.7 per 1,000 against 3.6) and other theft (3.8 per 1,000 against 3.2). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 130 | 18.1 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 56 | 7.8 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 51 | 7.1 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 34 | 4.7 | 3.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 29 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 27 | 3.8 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 5 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Towns its size: Malmesbury comes 91st of 546
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 87 | Wroughton Wiltshire | 7,276 | 17 | 7.8 | 4.6 | B+ |
| 88 | Broadbridge Heath West Sussex | 6,357 | 15.2 | 9.7 | 13.7 | B+ |
| 89 | Haddenham Buckinghamshire | 5,603 | 19.2 | 5.8 | 7.3 | B+ |
| 90 | Portstewart Causeway Coast and Glens | 7,854 | 15.6 | 9.4 | 5.5 | B+ |
| 91 | Malmesbury Wiltshire | 7,184 | 18 | 7.1 | 7.7 | B+ |
| 92 | Dinas Powis South Glamorgan | 7,891 | 18.2 | 6.9 | 6.3 | B+ |
| 93 | Braunton Devon | 6,610 | 17.3 | 7.8 | 4.9 | B+ |
| 94 | Chiswell Green Hertfordshire | 6,681 | 16.7 | 8.4 | 6.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Marlborough Wiltshire | 8,829 | 18.4 | 8 | 14.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 105 | Highworth Wiltshire | 7,932 | 18.7 | 7.8 | 4.7 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 130 | Durrington Wiltshire | 5,718 | 19.4 | 8.5 | 4.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 546 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Malmesbury, and others in Wiltshire.
Police in Malmesbury identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 79% of Malmesbury’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 7% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (74% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 0% 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. 180 crimes.
Crime in Malmesbury 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 6 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.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-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 -16% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +108% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -19% (towns its size +0%).
No one died in a collision on Malmesbury’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 18 collisions with injuries inside Malmesbury in five years. 6 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Malmesbury is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Malmesbury’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 6 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Malmesbury had 6.
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 Malmesbury’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Malmesbury
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malmesbury | 7,184 | 18 | 7.1 | B+ |
| Tetbury | 6,454 | 23.1 | 8 | B− |
| Sherston | 1,394 | 7.2 | 7.4 | A |
| Sutton Benger | 1,270 | 17.9 | 3.2 | A− |
| Avening | 1,054 | 11.8 | 3.5 | A |
| Lyneham | 4,645 | 10.9 | 2.5 | A+ |
| Ashton Keynes | 1,425 | 6.6 | 4.2 | A+ |
| Chippenham | 36,084 | 27.1 | 8.7 | C+ |
Malmesbury records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Tetbury and Chippenham record more. Sherston, 4.8 miles away, records 7.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Malmesbury’s 18.
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 Malmesbury 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 Malmesbury
Is Malmesbury safe?
Police recorded 18 violent and sexual offences and 7.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Malmesbury’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 70% of UK towns. Among 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Malmesbury is 91st from the least crime. 51% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Malmesbury?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 16%, shoplifting and theft rose 108% and anti-social behaviour fell 19%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Malmesbury?
Violence & sexual offences: 130 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (51) and public order (34), with 56 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Malmesbury compare with Chippenham?
Chippenham records 27.1 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Malmesbury’s 18 and 7.1, 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.