Crime and Safety in Dawlish
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Dawlish is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in Devon, and is the 29th most dangerous overall out of Devon's 403 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Dawlish in 2026 is 73 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Devon's overall crime rate, coming in 19% higher than the Devon rate of 62 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Dawlish is the 222nd most dangerous small town, and the 1,420th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In May 2021, Dawlish had the worst crime rate in Devon for robbery, with 1 crime reported and a crime rate of 0.07 per 1,000 daytime population. And in March 2026, Dawlish was the worst small town in Devon for shoplifting, with 25 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.6 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2025 was also a bad month for Dawlish residents, when it was Devon's most dangerous small town for violence and sexual offences, recording 54 crimes at a rate of 3.4 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Dawlish are violence and sexual offences, with 604 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 38. This is 0.50% higher than 2025's figure of 601 offences and a difference of 0.16 from 2025's crime rate of 38. Dawlish's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 4 offences recorded in 2026, the same as 2025's figure of 4 crimes.
Dawlish 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 5 Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Devon
20% higher, regional crime rate
South West
2.0% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Dawlish is 20% higher than the South West and 2.0% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Dawlish Crime Rate Over Time
| Dawlish | |
| South West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Dawlish Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Dawlish 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 Dawlish Compares
You can compare Dawlish'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 Dawlish's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Dawlish up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Dawlish's 523 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 Dawlish? 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
Dawlish • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Dawlish has a crime risk score of 717. This is based on analysis of 523 nearby areas within Dawlish, 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 Dawlish's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Dawlish, crime risk scores are typically around 717, while in Devon they are average 560.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 744 (565 for Devon), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 732 (Devon 560).
Trends in Crime Risk
Dawlish
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 an increase of 39% in Dawlish'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 Dawlish's crime risk score is up by 18%. 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, Dawlish's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 8%, 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
Dawlish
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
Dawlish • 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.
Violence and Sexual Offences have a crime rate of 38 reports per 1,000 people in Dawlish, which is 1.26 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 604 crime reports logged by Devon & Cornwall Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Devon & Cornwall Police recorded 7 reports of Possession of Weapons in Dawlish, resulting in a crime rate of 0.43 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.23.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 1.13 times the national average at 7.08 reports per 1,000. This is from 111 crime reports reported to Devon & Cornwall Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Dawlish
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 1.73 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.09 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 1822% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.26 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.52 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 142% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.59 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.21 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 181% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Dawlish
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 0.86 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Dawlish • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Dawlish | Devon | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 193 | 12.29 | 0.87 | 14,607 | 10.70 | 0.76 | 82,030 | 12.62 | 0.89 |
| Bicycle Theft | 4 | 0.24 | 0.96 | 569 | 0.41 | 0.56 | 3,702 | 0.54 | 0.74 |
| Burglary | 40 | 2.53 | 0.89 | 2,566 | 1.86 | 0.59 | 15,750 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 111 | 7.08 | 1.13 | 8,474 | 6.20 | 0.99 | 36,459 | 5.64 | 0.90 |
| Drugs | 28 | 1.78 | 0.58 | 2,715 | 1.99 | 0.64 | 10,358 | 1.60 | 0.52 |
| Other Crime | 21 | 1.33 | 0.78 | 2,063 | 1.50 | 0.81 | 8,931 | 1.38 | 0.75 |
| Other Theft | 83 | 5.27 | 0.93 | 6,727 | 4.91 | 0.86 | 31,450 | 4.85 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 7 | 0.43 | 1.23 | 1,242 | 0.90 | 1.06 | 3,967 | 0.62 | 0.73 |
| Public Order | 97 | 6.18 | 1.07 | 6,162 | 4.50 | 0.78 | 36,669 | 5.63 | 0.97 |
| Robbery | 6 | 0.37 | 0.95 | 561 | 0.40 | 0.34 | 4,567 | 0.70 | 0.59 |
| Shoplifting | 113 | 7.19 | 1.01 | 7,254 | 5.30 | 0.74 | 37,365 | 5.76 | 0.81 |
| Theft From the Person | 8 | 0.49 | 0.53 | 607 | 0.44 | 0.28 | 2,043 | 0.33 | 0.21 |
| Vehicle Crime | 33 | 2.11 | 0.59 | 2,359 | 1.75 | 0.41 | 16,666 | 2.56 | 0.60 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 604 | 38.43 | 1.26 | 43,244 | 31.62 | 1.04 | 189,257 | 29.13 | 0.96 |
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Total Crime by Year
Dawlish | Devon | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,155 | 73.43 | 1.07 | 84,543 | 61.78 | 0.86 | 397,184 | 61.16 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 965 | 61.48 | 0.90 | 83,193 | 61.39 | 0.83 | 402,192 | 62.40 | 0.84 |
| 2024 | 572 | 36.61 | 0.56 | 56,860 | 42.28 | 0.56 | 357,420 | 55.92 | 0.74 |
| 2023 | 699 | 44.97 | 0.63 | 62,696 | 47.11 | 0.60 | 360,086 | 56.89 | 0.72 |
| 2022 | 739 | 48.08 | 0.70 | 64,490 | 49.13 | 0.64 | 351,958 | 56.19 | 0.73 |
| 2021 | 669 | 44.27 | 0.73 | 60,586 | 46.74 | 0.68 | 311,592 | 50.21 | 0.73 |
| 2020 | 654 | 43.66 | 0.70 | 66,378 | 51.61 | 0.70 | 343,342 | 55.68 | 0.75 |
| 2019 | 719 | 48.53 | 0.70 | 72,309 | 56.53 | 0.74 | 348,574 | 56.87 | 0.75 |
| 2018 | 659 | 45.15 | 0.73 | 70,466 | 55.35 | 0.78 | 340,408 | 55.87 | 0.79 |
| 2017 | 573 | 39.86 | 0.70 | 58,856 | 46.67 | 0.73 | 312,784 | 51.72 | 0.81 |
| 2016 | 168 | 11.76 | 0.69 | 16,752 | 13.33 | 0.70 | 92,229 | 15.29 | 0.80 |
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Dawlish Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstaple | 2,761 | 99.63 | 36% more dangerous |
| Ilfracombe | 1,062 | 93.46 | 27% more dangerous |
| Crediton | 649 | 74.99 | 2.1% more dangerous |
| Dawlish | 1,155 | 73.43 | - |
| Tiverton | 1,689 | 68.71 | 6% safer |
| Bideford | 1,346 | 65.23 | 11% safer |
| Axminster | 512 | 56.56 | 23% safer |
| Cullompton | 712 | 61.10 | 17% safer |
| Teignmouth | 962 | 62.97 | 14% safer |
| Brixham | 962 | 56.47 | 23% safer |
| Totnes | 503 | 50.30 | 31% safer |
| Seaton | 333 | 41.94 | 43% safer |
| Honiton | 601 | 47.76 | 35% safer |
| Tavistock | 668 | 45.81 | 38% safer |
| Ivybridge | 526 | 43.59 | 41% safer |
| Ottery St. Mary | 301 | 36.83 | 50% safer |
| Sidmouth | 650 | 43.02 | 41% safer |
| Northam | 496 | 37.57 | 49% safer |
| Broad Clyst | 347 | 33.72 | 54% safer |
Comparing Dawlish to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Dawlish | 73.43 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 8% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 13% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 15% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 33% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 43% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 43% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 45% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 46% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 47% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 70% 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 Dawlish's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Dawlish 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Gardens | 50 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 60 | 129 |
| Dawlish Countryside Park | 1 | - | 2 | - | 6 | 0 |
| Manor Grounds | 4 | - | 1 | - | 18 | 5 |
| Aller Hill Allotments | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Dawlish
The 20 most recent crime reports in Dawlish.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Newhay Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Dawlish Warren Road | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Pine Tree Close | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Swallows Acre | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Aller Hill | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Barton Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Brookdale Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Gatehouse Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Pine Tree Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Little Week Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near The Paddock | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Barton Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dawlish Warren Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Pine Tree Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Celtic Fields | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Celtic Fields | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Second Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Pine Tree Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Orchard Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Celtic Fields |
Methodology & Data Sources
Dawlish 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 Dawlish during August 2026 will typically become available in October 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.
Dawlish Data Points
For Dawlish, 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 E04003204.
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 Dawlish's daytime - or "workday" - population of 11,481 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 Dawlish