Photo: David Gearing · CC BY-SA 2.0Trowbridge stands out for shoplifting: 2.1 times the rate of a typical town its size
Across all the graded crimes, Trowbridge lands on C (#25 of 30 in Wiltshire): more crime per resident than 73% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It has more violent crime than 75% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 67%. The yearly rates were 33.5 violent and sexual offences and 12.0 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 Trowbridge
One ward carries much of the rate
Trowbridge Central ward, where 42% of Trowbridge’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 1,376 of Trowbridge’s 4,391 violent and sexual offences in three years: 80.7 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Trowbridge the figure is 25.4. Where in Trowbridge ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 154 UK towns of 31,000 to 59,000 people, Trowbridge has the 53rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bexhill-on-Sea, Hinckley and Welwyn Garden City, higher than Fulwood, Letchworth and Winchester. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Trowbridge’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 5,955 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Trowbridge 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, Trowbridge runs highest on shoplifting (13 per 1,000 against 6.1), anti-social behaviour (20 per 1,000 against 12.4) and public order (6.5 per 1,000 against 5.4). Other theft and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,474 | 33.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 874 | 20 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 570 | 13 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 326 | 7.5 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 283 | 6.5 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 157 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 97 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 88 | 2 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 81 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 68 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 37 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 23 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 22 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 19 | 0.4 | 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.
Lowest recorded crime in Hilperton, Trowbridge Paxcroft and Trowbridge Grove; highest in Trowbridge Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilperton | 4,687 | 14.3 | 5.7 | |
| Trowbridge Paxcroft | 5,596 | 16.6 | 4.2 | |
| Trowbridge Grove | 5,351 | 15.4 | 5.5 | |
| Trowbridge Lambrok | 5,412 | 28.5 | 7.3 | |
| Trowbridge Park | 4,335 | 30.8 | 10.6 | |
| Trowbridge Adcroft | 6,067 | 33.2 | 13.5 | |
| Holt | 1,882 | 35.4 | 12.2 | |
| Trowbridge Drynham | 4,737 | 35.3 | 13.2 | |
| Trowbridge Central | 5,686 | 80.7 | 31 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 788 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 583 | 26% violent |
| Shopping areas | 469 | 45% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 98 | 31% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 51 | 45% violent |
| Police stations | 32 | 44% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Trowbridge Central records 3.2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Trowbridge. 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 Trowbridge. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Trowbridge’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police in Trowbridge identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 58% of Trowbridge’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” (55% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% 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. 1,916 crimes.
How Trowbridge’s neighbourhoods rank in England
21% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 11% 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.
Trowbridge’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.
Trowbridge places 53rd of 154 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 22 | Chippenham Wiltshire | 36,084 | 27.1 | 8.7 | 11.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Fulwood Lancashire | 34,693 | 32.1 | 12.7 | 9.4 | C |
| 51 | Letchworth Hertfordshire | 33,993 | 32.7 | 12.6 | 14.2 | C |
| 52 | Winchester Hampshire | 48,486 | 35 | 10.4 | 18.4 | C |
| 53 | Trowbridge Wiltshire | 43,753 | 33.5 | 12 | 15.7 | C |
| 54 | Canvey Island Essex | 38,004 | 33.6 | 12.6 | 9.7 | C |
| 55 | Dunstable Bedfordshire | 34,498 | 31.3 | 14.9 | 12.6 | C |
| 56 | Bamber Bridge Lancashire | 40,359 | 33.4 | 13.5 | 14.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 67 | Salisbury Wiltshire | 47,690 | 34.3 | 15.1 | 16.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 154 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | 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 Trowbridge, and others in Wiltshire.
Crime in Trowbridge 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 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 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 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 +1% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -1% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +23% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -12% (towns its size -4%).
No one died in a collision on Trowbridge’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 239 collisions with injuries inside Trowbridge in five years. 40 people were killed or seriously injured: 13 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 Trowbridge’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Trowbridge’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Trowbridge had 18.1 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). 33% 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 Trowbridge’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Trowbridge
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trowbridge | 43,753 | 33.5 | 12 | C |
| North Bradley | 1,555 | 10.1 | 6 | A |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 24.1 | 9.7 | B− |
| Bradford-on-Avon | 9,864 | 18.5 | 9.4 | B |
| Holt | 1,704 | 7.8 | 3.3 | A+ |
| Westwood | 1,001 | 7.7 | 4.7 | A+ |
| Berryfield | 1,094 | 53.6 | 18.6 | D |
| Winsley | 1,365 | 6.8 | 4.6 | A+ |
Trowbridge records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Berryfield records more. North Bradley, 1.7 miles away, records 10.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Trowbridge’s 33.5.
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 Trowbridge 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 Trowbridge
Is Trowbridge safe?
Police recorded 33.5 violent and sexual offences and 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Trowbridge’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 27% of UK towns. Among 154 UK towns of 31,000 to 59,000 people, Trowbridge is 53rd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Trowbridge?
By council ward, Hilperton, Trowbridge Paxcroft and Trowbridge Grove record the least violent and household crime per resident: 14.3, 16.6 and 15.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 80.7 in Trowbridge Central.
Is crime going up in Trowbridge?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 23% and anti-social behaviour fell 12%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Trowbridge?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,474 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (570) and criminal damage & arson (326), with 874 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.