Crime and Safety in Appleton
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Appleton is among the top 10 safest small towns in Cheshire, and is the 128th safest overall out of Cheshire's 321 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Appleton in 2026 is 30 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Cheshire's overall crime rate, coming in 48% lower than the Cheshire rate of 57 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Appleton is the 84th safest small town, and the 4,016th safest location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In March 2026, Appleton was the worst small town in Cheshire for burglary, with 7 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.64 per 1,000 daytime population. March 2026 was also a bad month for Appleton residents, when it was Cheshire's most dangerous small town for other crime, recording 5 crimes at a rate of 0.46 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Appleton are violence and sexual offences, with 166 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 15. This is 0.61% higher than 2025's figure of 165 offences and a difference of 0.08 from 2025's crime rate of 15. Appleton's least common crime is robbery, with 0 offences recorded in 2026.
Appleton 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 10 Safest
Small Towns, Cheshire
32% lower, regional crime rate
North West
59% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Appleton is 32% lower than the North West and 59% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Appleton Crime Rate Over Time
| Appleton | |
| North West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Appleton Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Appleton 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.
See How Appleton Compares
You can compare Appleton's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.
Introduction to Appleton's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Appleton up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Appleton's 271 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.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Appleton? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.
Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.
That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.
Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.
Crime Risk Scores
Appleton • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Appleton has a crime risk score of 388. This is based on analysis of 271 nearby areas within Appleton, 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 Appleton's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Appleton, crime risk scores are typically around 388, while in Cheshire they are average 486.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 398 (475 for Cheshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 459 (Cheshire 477).
Trends in Crime Risk
Appleton
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.
No trend could be found in Appleton's crime risk scores over the last 10 years, and the trend may well be static.
The five-year trend may be static; no significant trend was identified in Appleton's crime risk scores during this timeframe.
Over the last year, Appleton's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 8%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Appleton
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
Appleton • 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.
Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 0.09 reports per 1,000 people in Appleton, which is 1.13 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 1 crime report logged by Cheshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Cheshire Police recorded 27 reports of Burglary in Appleton, resulting in a crime rate of 2.46 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.94.
The crime rate for Vehicle Crime is 0.77 times the national average at 1.65 reports per 1,000. This is from 18 crime reports reported to Cheshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Appleton
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.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.02 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.14 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 629% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Appleton
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.18 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Appleton • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Appleton | Cheshire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 28 | 2.54 | 0.21 | 7,389 | 5.65 | 0.40 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 |
| Bicycle Theft | 2 | 0.18 | 1.64 | 625 | 0.47 | 0.64 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 |
| Burglary | 27 | 2.46 | 0.94 | 2,485 | 1.90 | 0.61 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 24 | 2.17 | 0.41 | 5,329 | 4.07 | 0.65 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 |
| Drugs | 12 | 1.08 | 0.60 | 3,853 | 2.94 | 0.95 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 |
| Other Crime | 19 | 1.72 | 1.39 | 1,989 | 1.52 | 0.82 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 |
| Other Theft | 22 | 2.00 | 0.42 | 4,753 | 3.62 | 0.64 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 |
| Possession of Weapons | 1 | 0.09 | 1.13 | 829 | 0.64 | 0.75 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 |
| Public Order | 32 | 2.92 | 0.66 | 9,119 | 6.98 | 1.20 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 |
| Robbery | - | - | - | 458 | 0.35 | 0.30 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 |
| Shoplifting | 1 | 0.09 | 0.17 | 5,365 | 4.10 | 0.58 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 |
| Theft From the Person | - | - | - | 264 | 0.21 | 0.14 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 |
| Vehicle Crime | 18 | 1.65 | 0.77 | 2,191 | 1.67 | 0.39 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 166 | 15.15 | 0.50 | 37,331 | 28.56 | 0.94 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 |
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Total Crime by Year
Appleton | Cheshire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 324 | 29.51 | 0.55 | 74,591 | 57.03 | 0.79 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 |
| 2025 | 295 | 27.02 | 0.48 | 75,689 | 58.27 | 0.79 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 |
| 2024 | 307 | 28.40 | 0.48 | 76,482 | 59.44 | 0.79 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 |
| 2023 | 292 | 27.76 | 0.43 | 85,426 | 67.07 | 0.85 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 325 | 31.16 | 0.51 | 75,838 | 60.39 | 0.79 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 |
| 2021 | 332 | 32.10 | 0.56 | 77,168 | 62.01 | 0.90 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 |
| 2020 | 322 | 31.05 | 0.52 | 84,160 | 68.11 | 0.92 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 |
| 2019 | 310 | 29.40 | 0.48 | 80,803 | 65.69 | 0.86 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 |
| 2018 | 304 | 28.55 | 0.51 | 81,117 | 66.34 | 0.93 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 |
| 2017 | 225 | 21.09 | 0.43 | 62,384 | 51.37 | 0.80 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 |
| 2016 | 57 | 5.31 | 0.39 | 15,857 | 13.13 | 0.69 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 |
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Appleton Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upton-by-Chester | 443 | 48.53 | 64% more dangerous |
| Burtonwood and Westbrook | 695 | 52.98 | 80% more dangerous |
| Wistaston | 386 | 43.43 | 47% more dangerous |
| Frodsham | 443 | 44.06 | 49% more dangerous |
| Alsager | 712 | 44.56 | 51% more dangerous |
| Culcheth and Glazebury | 324 | 38.88 | 32% more dangerous |
| Sandbach | 1,161 | 46.06 | 56% more dangerous |
| Poulton-with-Fearnhead | 855 | 42.87 | 45% more dangerous |
| Neston | 632 | 39.22 | 33% more dangerous |
| Appleton | 324 | 29.51 | - |
| Lymm | 456 | 33.34 | 13% more dangerous |
| Poynton-with-Worth | 503 | 33.62 | 14% more dangerous |
| Penketh | 206 | 25.20 | 15% safer |
| Knutsford | 591 | 31.57 | 7% more dangerous |
| Great Boughton | 218 | 26.20 | 11% safer |
| Bollington | 238 | 23.54 | 20% safer |
| Grappenhall and Thelwall | 263 | 25.09 | 15% safer |
| Birchwood | 645 | 23.75 | 20% safer |
Comparing Appleton to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Appleton | 29.51 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 170% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 180% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 185% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 232% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 255% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 256% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 261% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 263% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 265% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 324% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
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You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Appleton's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Appleton that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton Heath Allotment Park | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Stockton Heath Lawn Tennis Club | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 0 |
| Walton Hall Gardens | 4 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Lumb Brook Millennium Green | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Appleton
The 20 most recent crime reports in Appleton.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Windmill Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Windmill Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Farm Lane | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Greenfields Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near St Monicas Close | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Greenfields Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Ash Lane | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Lumb Brook Road | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Blackcap Road | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Burley Lane | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Burley Lane | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Kingsley Drive | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near High Warren Close | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Dipping Brook Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Epsom Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Chapel Lane | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near St Monicas Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Greenfields Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Farm Lane |
Methodology & Data Sources
Appleton Crime Report
Data Sources & Processing
Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.
Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Appleton during June 2026 will typically become available in August 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.
Appleton Data Points
For Appleton, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2023 release of their Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas dataset, using the PARNCP23CD column value E04000319.
Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Appleton's daytime - or "workday" - population of 10,481 from the ONS 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.
All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.
Calculating Crime Rates
CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.
Crime Risk Score Calculations
CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.
Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.
Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.
The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Appleton