Cheshire Crime Statistics
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The overall crime rate in Cheshire as of April 2026 is 57 crimes per 1,000 people, and the most common crimes are violence and sexual offences, with reports coming from roughly every 29 out of 1,000 daytime population.
Comparing Cheshire's larger towns and cities, and using Crime Risk Scores - which are calculated by taking severity of each crime type into account - Warrington is the most dangerous. The next most dangerous is Crewe, and Winsford comes in as third most dangerous. There are safer parts of Cheshire, identified using the same Crime Risk measurement, starting with Birchwood which ranks as the safest area in Cheshire, followed up by Poynton-with-Worth in second place, and Neston in third place.
Cheshire Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Cheshire represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
Introduction to Cheshire's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Cheshire up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Cheshire's 47,651 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
Crime Risk Scores
Cheshire • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Cheshire has a crime risk score of 486. This is based on analysis of 47,651 nearby areas within Cheshire, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Cheshire's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Cheshire, crime risk scores are typically around 486, while in North West they are average 512.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 475 (505 for North West), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 477 (North West 503).
Trends in Crime Risk
Cheshire
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 10% in Cheshire's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Cheshire's crime risk score is down by 8%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Cheshire's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 0.62%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Cheshire
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Cheshire • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Public Order offences have a crime rate of 6.98 reports per 1,000 people in Cheshire, which is 1.20 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 9,119 crime reports logged by Cheshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Cheshire Police recorded 3,853 reports of Drugs in Cheshire, resulting in a crime rate of 2.94 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.95.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 0.94 times the national average at 29 reports per 1,000. This is from 37,331 crime reports reported to Cheshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Cheshire
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.29 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.98 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 32% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.30 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.22 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 36% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Cheshire
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.65 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.73 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 11% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.56 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.76 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 26% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.94 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.96 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 2.1% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Cheshire • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Cheshire | North West | Cheshire Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 7,389 | 5.65 | 0.40 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 | 7,405 | 5.65 | 0.40 |
| Bicycle Theft | 625 | 0.47 | 0.64 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 | 625 | 0.47 | 0.64 |
| Burglary | 2,485 | 1.90 | 0.61 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 | 2,490 | 1.90 | 0.61 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 5,329 | 4.07 | 0.65 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 | 5,340 | 4.08 | 0.65 |
| Drugs | 3,853 | 2.94 | 0.95 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 | 3,864 | 2.94 | 0.95 |
| Other Crime | 1,989 | 1.52 | 0.82 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 | 1,995 | 1.52 | 0.82 |
| Other Theft | 4,753 | 3.62 | 0.64 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 | 4,760 | 3.63 | 0.64 |
| Possession of Weapons | 829 | 0.64 | 0.75 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 | 829 | 0.64 | 0.75 |
| Public Order | 9,119 | 6.98 | 1.20 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 | 9,143 | 6.97 | 1.20 |
| Robbery | 458 | 0.35 | 0.30 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 | 461 | 0.35 | 0.30 |
| Shoplifting | 5,365 | 4.10 | 0.58 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 | 5,365 | 4.08 | 0.57 |
| Theft From the Person | 264 | 0.21 | 0.14 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 265 | 0.20 | 0.13 |
| Vehicle Crime | 2,191 | 1.67 | 0.39 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 | 2,193 | 1.67 | 0.39 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 37,331 | 28.56 | 0.94 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 | 37,399 | 28.54 | 0.94 |
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Total Crime by Year
Cheshire | North West | Cheshire Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 74,591 | 57.03 | 0.79 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 | 74,729 | 56.99 | 0.79 |
| 2025 | 75,689 | 58.27 | 0.79 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 | 75,802 | 58.15 | 0.79 |
| 2024 | 76,482 | 59.44 | 0.79 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 | 76,605 | 59.41 | 0.79 |
| 2023 | 85,426 | 67.07 | 0.85 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 | 85,599 | 67.01 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 75,838 | 60.39 | 0.79 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 | 75,980 | 60.31 | 0.79 |
| 2021 | 77,168 | 62.01 | 0.90 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 | 77,341 | 61.92 | 0.90 |
| 2020 | 84,160 | 68.11 | 0.92 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 | 84,331 | 68.04 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 80,803 | 65.69 | 0.86 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 | 80,982 | 65.67 | 0.86 |
| 2018 | 81,117 | 66.34 | 0.93 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 | 81,232 | 66.32 | 0.93 |
| 2017 | 62,384 | 51.37 | 0.80 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 | 62,548 | 51.35 | 0.80 |
| 2016 | 15,857 | 13.13 | 0.69 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 | 15,911 | 13.13 | 0.69 |
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The Cheshire Streets With The Highest Crime Counts
Each police crime report that CrimeRate receives has a street name automatically assigned to it by the police data team, and this table uses the coordinates to count crimes, rather than the street name alone. That way, if Cheshire has multiple identical street names - which is not unusual - they will be treated separately by CrimeRate's systems.
| Street | Crime Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nightclub Chester | 180 | ||||||||
| Hospital Bache | 113 | ||||||||
| Elm Road Winwick | 82 | ||||||||
| Market Street Northwich | 54 | ||||||||
| Hospital Warrington | 53 | ||||||||
| Hospital Leighton | 52 | ||||||||
| Wood Street Macclesfield | 44 | ||||||||
| Farrant Street Widnes | 43 | ||||||||
| Eaton Street Crewe | 42 | ||||||||
| Grangemoor Runcorn | 33 | ||||||||
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Town and City Comparison
| Town / City | Crime Count | Crime Rate | CrimeRate Index | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrington | 7,975 | 100.25 | 1.40 | ||||||
| Crewe | 6,618 | 96.20 | 1.34 | ||||||
| Chester | 7,705 | 86.63 | 1.20 | ||||||
| Ellesmere Port | 5,558 | 77.06 | 1.08 | ||||||
| Northwich | 1,996 | 75.46 | 1.07 | ||||||
| Nantwich | 1,378 | 74.75 | 1.10 | ||||||
| Runcorn | 4,726 | 73.12 | 1.03 | ||||||
| Widnes | 4,768 | 72.81 | 1.02 | ||||||
| Macclesfield | 4,127 | 67.14 | 0.94 | ||||||
| Winsford | 2,515 | 63.71 | 0.92 | ||||||
| Congleton | 2,031 | 63.00 | 0.90 | ||||||
| Middlewich | 1,011 | 62.85 | 0.95 | ||||||
| Burtonwood and Westbrook | 695 | 52.98 | 0.80 | ||||||
| Upton-by-Chester | 443 | 48.53 | 0.85 | ||||||
| Sandbach | 1,161 | 46.06 | 0.67 | ||||||
| Alsager | 712 | 44.56 | 0.69 | ||||||
| Frodsham | 443 | 44.06 | 0.72 | ||||||
| Wistaston | 386 | 43.43 | 0.74 | ||||||
| Poulton-with-Fearnhead | 855 | 42.87 | 0.64 | ||||||
| Neston | 632 | 39.22 | 0.61 | ||||||
| Culcheth and Glazebury | 324 | 38.88 | 0.68 | ||||||
| Wilmslow | 1,243 | 36.67 | 0.53 | ||||||
| Poynton-with-Worth | 503 | 33.62 | 0.52 | ||||||
| Lymm | 456 | 33.34 | 0.52 | ||||||
| Knutsford | 591 | 31.57 | 0.49 | ||||||
| Great Sankey | 1,097 | 29.78 | 0.46 | ||||||
| Appleton | 324 | 29.51 | 0.55 | ||||||
| Great Boughton | 218 | 26.20 | 0.49 | ||||||
| Penketh | 206 | 25.20 | 0.52 | ||||||
| Grappenhall and Thelwall | 263 | 25.09 | 0.43 | ||||||
| Birchwood | 645 | 23.75 | 0.37 | ||||||
| Bollington | 238 | 23.54 | 0.44 | ||||||
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