Devon Crime Statistics
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The overall crime rate in Devon as of April 2026 is 62 crimes per 1,000 people, and the most common crimes are violence and sexual offences, with reports coming from roughly every 32 out of 1,000 daytime population.
Comparing Devon's larger towns and cities, and using Crime Risk Scores - which are calculated by taking severity of each crime type into account - Torquay is the most dangerous. The next most dangerous is Plymouth, and Paignton comes in as third most dangerous. There are safer parts of Devon, identified using the same Crime Risk measurement, starting with Exmouth which ranks as the safest area in Devon, followed up by Newton Abbot in second place, and Exeter in third place.
Devon Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Devon represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
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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 Devon's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Devon up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Devon's 53,619 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
Devon • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Devon has a crime risk score of 560. This is based on analysis of 53,619 nearby areas within Devon, 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 Devon's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Devon, crime risk scores are typically around 560, while in South West they are average 510.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 565 (506 for South West), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 560 (South West 503).
Trends in Crime Risk
Devon
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 Devon's crime risk scores over the last 10 years, and the trend may well be static.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Devon's crime risk score is up by 24%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Over the last year, Devon's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 4.1%, 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
Devon
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
Devon • 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 0.90 reports per 1,000 people in Devon, which is 1.06 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 1,242 crime reports logged by Devon & Cornwall Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Devon & Cornwall Police recorded 43,244 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Devon, resulting in a crime rate of 32 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.04.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 0.99 times the national average at 6.20 reports per 1,000. This is from 8,474 crime reports reported to Devon & Cornwall Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Devon
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 0.77 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.17 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 353% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.09 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.48 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 127% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.63 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.20 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 215% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Devon
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.52 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.38 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 37% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Devon • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Devon | South West | Devon & Cornwall Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 14,607 | 10.70 | 0.76 | 82,030 | 12.62 | 0.89 | 20,922 | 10.50 | 0.74 |
| Bicycle Theft | 569 | 0.41 | 0.56 | 3,702 | 0.54 | 0.74 | 655 | 0.34 | 0.47 |
| Burglary | 2,566 | 1.86 | 0.59 | 15,750 | 2.42 | 0.77 | 3,535 | 1.77 | 0.57 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 8,474 | 6.20 | 0.99 | 36,459 | 5.64 | 0.90 | 12,833 | 6.43 | 1.02 |
| Drugs | 2,715 | 1.99 | 0.64 | 10,358 | 1.60 | 0.52 | 3,625 | 1.81 | 0.59 |
| Other Crime | 2,063 | 1.50 | 0.81 | 8,931 | 1.38 | 0.75 | 2,931 | 1.47 | 0.79 |
| Other Theft | 6,727 | 4.91 | 0.86 | 31,450 | 4.85 | 0.85 | 9,872 | 4.94 | 0.87 |
| Possession of Weapons | 1,242 | 0.90 | 1.06 | 3,967 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 1,695 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 6,162 | 4.50 | 0.78 | 36,669 | 5.63 | 0.97 | 8,817 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 561 | 0.40 | 0.34 | 4,567 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 752 | 0.38 | 0.32 |
| Shoplifting | 7,254 | 5.30 | 0.74 | 37,365 | 5.76 | 0.81 | 9,618 | 4.80 | 0.67 |
| Theft From the Person | 607 | 0.44 | 0.28 | 2,043 | 0.33 | 0.21 | 816 | 0.43 | 0.28 |
| Vehicle Crime | 2,359 | 1.75 | 0.41 | 16,666 | 2.56 | 0.60 | 3,278 | 1.65 | 0.38 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 43,244 | 31.62 | 1.04 | 189,257 | 29.13 | 0.96 | 62,607 | 31.38 | 1.03 |
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Total Crime by Year
Devon | South West | Devon & Cornwall Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 84,543 | 61.78 | 0.86 | 397,184 | 61.16 | 0.85 | 121,034 | 60.65 | 0.84 |
| 2025 | 83,193 | 61.39 | 0.83 | 402,192 | 62.40 | 0.84 | 116,839 | 59.15 | 0.80 |
| 2024 | 56,860 | 42.28 | 0.56 | 357,420 | 55.92 | 0.74 | 80,256 | 40.93 | 0.54 |
| 2023 | 62,696 | 47.11 | 0.60 | 360,086 | 56.89 | 0.72 | 88,198 | 45.41 | 0.57 |
| 2022 | 64,490 | 49.13 | 0.64 | 351,958 | 56.19 | 0.73 | 90,301 | 47.08 | 0.61 |
| 2021 | 60,586 | 46.74 | 0.68 | 311,592 | 50.21 | 0.73 | 84,546 | 44.57 | 0.65 |
| 2020 | 66,378 | 51.61 | 0.70 | 343,342 | 55.68 | 0.75 | 91,734 | 48.80 | 0.66 |
| 2019 | 72,309 | 56.53 | 0.74 | 348,574 | 56.87 | 0.75 | 99,405 | 53.20 | 0.70 |
| 2018 | 70,466 | 55.35 | 0.78 | 340,408 | 55.87 | 0.79 | 97,525 | 52.52 | 0.74 |
| 2017 | 58,856 | 46.67 | 0.73 | 312,784 | 51.72 | 0.81 | 81,053 | 44.05 | 0.69 |
| 2016 | 16,752 | 13.33 | 0.70 | 92,229 | 15.29 | 0.80 | 22,882 | 12.46 | 0.65 |
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The Devon 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 Devon has multiple identical street names - which is not unusual - they will be treated separately by CrimeRate's systems.
| Street | Crime Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Street Exeter | 159 | ||||||||
| Old Town Street Plymouth | 114 | ||||||||
| Police Station Torquay | 57 | ||||||||
| The Quay Bideford | 46 | ||||||||
| Victoria Road Ilfracombe | 39 | ||||||||
| Mermaid Walk Barnstaple | 39 | ||||||||
| High Street Crediton | 38 | ||||||||
| East Street Newton Abbot | 37 | ||||||||
| Longstone Road Paignton | 33 | ||||||||
| Market Street Exmouth | 29 | ||||||||
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Town and City Comparison
| Town / City | Crime Count | Crime Rate | CrimeRate Index | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torquay | 6,114 | 109.43 | 1.52 | ||||||
| Barnstaple | 2,761 | 99.63 | 1.40 | ||||||
| Ilfracombe | 1,062 | 93.46 | 1.36 | ||||||
| Plymouth | 25,117 | 84.41 | 1.17 | ||||||
| Paignton | 4,097 | 79.52 | 1.12 | ||||||
| Exeter | 12,966 | 76.73 | 1.07 | ||||||
| Crediton | 649 | 74.99 | 1.15 | ||||||
| Dawlish | 1,155 | 73.43 | 1.07 | ||||||
| Tiverton | 1,689 | 68.71 | 0.99 | ||||||
| Newton Abbot | 2,062 | 65.40 | 0.93 | ||||||
| Bideford | 1,346 | 65.23 | 0.95 | ||||||
| Teignmouth | 962 | 62.97 | 0.93 | ||||||
| Cullompton | 712 | 61.10 | 0.93 | ||||||
| Axminster | 512 | 56.56 | 0.93 | ||||||
| Brixham | 962 | 56.47 | 0.85 | ||||||
| Exmouth | 1,958 | 52.90 | 0.76 | ||||||
| Totnes | 503 | 50.30 | 0.80 | ||||||
| Honiton | 601 | 47.76 | 0.74 | ||||||
| Tavistock | 668 | 45.81 | 0.70 | ||||||
| Ivybridge | 526 | 43.59 | 0.69 | ||||||
| Sidmouth | 650 | 43.02 | 0.65 | ||||||
| Seaton | 333 | 41.94 | 0.77 | ||||||
| Kingsteignton | 494 | 38.94 | 0.62 | ||||||
| Northam | 496 | 37.57 | 0.63 | ||||||
| Fremington | 536 | 37.19 | 0.60 | ||||||
| Ottery St. Mary | 301 | 36.83 | 0.65 | ||||||
| Broad Clyst | 347 | 33.72 | 0.60 | ||||||
| Braunton | 255 | 30.74 | 0.55 | ||||||
| Bovey Tracey | 270 | 29.80 | 0.56 | ||||||
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