Crime and Safety in Cheltenham
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Gloucestershire Police are behind schedule with their crime data updates.
Please see below for details.
Cheltenham is the safest major town in Gloucestershire, and is the 78th most dangerous overall out of Gloucestershire's 305 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Cheltenham in 2026 is 57 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Gloucestershire's overall crime rate, coming in 15% higher than the Gloucestershire rate of 49 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Cheltenham is the safest major town, and the 2,531st safest location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Cheltenham was the worst major town in Gloucestershire for burglary, with 35 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.33 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Cheltenham residents, when it was Gloucestershire's most dangerous major town for criminal damage and arson, recording 49 crimes at a rate of 0.47 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Cheltenham are violence and sexual offences, with 2,470 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 23. This is 24% lower than 2025's figure of 3,264 offences and a difference of 7.51 from 2025's crime rate of 31. Cheltenham's least common crime is theft from the person, with 33 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 38% from 2025's figure of 53 crimes.
Cheltenham 2026 Crime Scorecard
Safest
Major Towns, Gloucestershire
7% lower, regional crime rate
South West
21% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of January 2026, the crime rate in Cheltenham is 7% lower than the South West and 21% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Cheltenham Crime Rate Over Time
| Cheltenham | |
| South West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Cheltenham Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Cheltenham represent the time frame between January 2016 and January 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 Cheltenham Compares
You can compare Cheltenham'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.
Crime data status: caution advised
Gloucestershire Police are behind schedule with their crime data updates, and the most recent data on data.police.uk for Gloucestershire Police is for January 2026.
The most recent month for all other forces is April 2026. This affects all platforms, systems, and users that rely on data.police.uk.
We advise exercising caution with statistics for areas within Gloucestershire Police's boundaries, particularly if comparing against areas with more recent data, until Gloucestershire Police are back on schedule.
Crime data on data.police.uk is typically updated once per month, and includes new data with a two-month delay.
Introduction to Cheltenham's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Cheltenham up to January 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Cheltenham's 2,709 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 January 2026 unless otherwise stated.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Cheltenham? 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
Cheltenham • 12 Months Ending January 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Cheltenham has a crime risk score of 390. This is based on analysis of 2,709 nearby areas within Cheltenham, 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 Cheltenham's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Cheltenham, crime risk scores are typically around 390, while in Gloucestershire they are average 453.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 412 (445 for Gloucestershire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 392 (Gloucestershire 428).
Trends in Crime Risk
Cheltenham
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 44% in Cheltenham'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 Cheltenham's crime risk score is down by 3.8%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
The risk score trend over the last year has not shown any statistically meaningful movement up or down.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Cheltenham
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
Cheltenham • 12 Months Ending January 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.
Shoplifting offences have a crime rate of 7.68 reports per 1,000 people in Cheltenham, which is 1.32 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 812 crime reports logged by Gloucestershire Police during the 12-month period ending January 2026.
For the same period, Gloucestershire Police recorded 397 reports of Vehicle Crime in Cheltenham, resulting in a crime rate of 3.78 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.16.
The crime rate for Burglary is 1.11 times the national average at 2.66 reports per 1,000. This is from 281 crime reports reported to Gloucestershire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Cheltenham
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.
No significant increases identified.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Cheltenham
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.36 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.76 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 0.23 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Cheltenham • 12 Months Ending January 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 1,962 | 18.60 | 1.43 | 12,776 | 11.54 | 0.82 | 82,030 | 12.62 | 0.89 |
| Bicycle Theft | 130 | 1.22 | 2.14 | 566 | 0.52 | 0.71 | 3,702 | 0.54 | 0.74 |
| Burglary | 281 | 2.66 | 1.11 | 2,777 | 2.50 | 0.80 | 15,750 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 491 | 4.66 | 0.98 | 4,341 | 3.92 | 0.62 | 36,459 | 5.64 | 0.90 |
| Drugs | 134 | 1.27 | 0.54 | 1,364 | 1.24 | 0.40 | 10,358 | 1.60 | 0.52 |
| Other Crime | 151 | 1.42 | 1.03 | 1,449 | 1.30 | 0.70 | 8,931 | 1.38 | 0.75 |
| Other Theft | 430 | 4.09 | 0.86 | 4,079 | 3.68 | 0.65 | 31,450 | 4.85 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 51 | 0.51 | 0.78 | 528 | 0.47 | 0.55 | 3,967 | 0.62 | 0.73 |
| Public Order | 523 | 4.95 | 1.11 | 5,210 | 4.71 | 0.81 | 36,669 | 5.63 | 0.97 |
| Robbery | 82 | 0.76 | 0.85 | 689 | 0.59 | 0.50 | 4,567 | 0.70 | 0.59 |
| Shoplifting | 812 | 7.68 | 1.32 | 5,696 | 5.14 | 0.72 | 37,365 | 5.76 | 0.81 |
| Theft From the Person | 33 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 178 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 2,043 | 0.33 | 0.21 |
| Vehicle Crime | 397 | 3.78 | 1.16 | 2,409 | 2.17 | 0.50 | 16,666 | 2.56 | 0.60 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 2,470 | 23.41 | 0.77 | 25,193 | 22.75 | 0.75 | 189,257 | 29.13 | 0.96 |
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Total Crime by Year
Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 5,985 | 56.74 | 0.90 | 54,479 | 49.13 | 0.68 | 397,184 | 61.16 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 7,874 | 75.07 | 1.01 | 63,613 | 57.93 | 0.78 | 402,192 | 62.40 | 0.84 |
| 2024 | 9,331 | 88.59 | 1.17 | 67,182 | 61.87 | 0.82 | 357,420 | 55.92 | 0.74 |
| 2023 | 9,716 | 92.02 | 1.16 | 68,362 | 63.73 | 0.81 | 360,086 | 56.89 | 0.72 |
| 2022 | 8,436 | 80.67 | 1.05 | 58,356 | 55.10 | 0.72 | 351,958 | 56.19 | 0.73 |
| 2021 | 5,938 | 56.79 | 0.83 | 46,191 | 44.17 | 0.64 | 311,592 | 50.21 | 0.73 |
| 2020 | 7,539 | 71.76 | 0.97 | 52,543 | 50.65 | 0.68 | 343,342 | 55.68 | 0.75 |
| 2019 | 6,682 | 62.84 | 0.82 | 47,830 | 46.35 | 0.61 | 348,574 | 56.87 | 0.75 |
| 2018 | 7,028 | 65.95 | 0.93 | 47,633 | 46.50 | 0.65 | 340,408 | 55.87 | 0.79 |
| 2017 | 6,622 | 62.29 | 0.97 | 45,382 | 44.66 | 0.70 | 312,784 | 51.72 | 0.81 |
| 2016 | 1,951 | 18.38 | 0.96 | 13,785 | 13.57 | 0.71 | 92,229 | 15.29 | 0.80 |
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Cheltenham Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Jan 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester | 10,262 | 75.50 | 33% more dangerous |
| Cheltenham | 5,985 | 56.74 | - |
Comparing Cheltenham to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Jan 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham | 56.74 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 40% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 46% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 48% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 72% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 84% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 85% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 88% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 89% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 90% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 120% 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 Cheltenham's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Cheltenham that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Jan 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alstone Croft Playing Field | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| Victoria Ground | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Cheltenham Town Ladies Football Club | 3 | - | 4 | - | 2 | 9 |
| Court Gardens | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Cheltenham Ladies College Sports Centre | 10 | - | 4 | - | 6 | 8 |
| Hayden Allotments | 7 | - | - | - | 6 | 2 |
| Springfields Park | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 43 | 12 |
| Hesters Way Park | 19 | - | 7 | 2 | 25 | 10 |
| King George V Playing Field | 10 | 1 | 3 | - | 14 | 10 |
| Midwinter Allotments | 31 | - | 6 | - | 11 | 6 |
| Prince of Wales Stadium | 7 | - | 1 | - | 4 | 21 |
| Sandford Park | 73 | 10 | 18 | 1 | 120 | 84 |
| Pittville Park | 81 | - | 10 | 2 | 35 | 45 |
| Clyde Crescent | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | 11 | 2 |
| St Peters Park Chelt Walk | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 12 |
| Humpty Dumps | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 |
| Hatherley Park | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Warden Hill Allotments | 3 | - | - | - | 5 | 4 |
| University of Gloucestershire the Folley | 8 | - | 3 | - | 14 | 17 |
| Winston Churchill Memorial Garden | 21 | - | 8 | - | 18 | 20 |
| Agg Gardner Recreation Ground | 14 | - | 3 | - | 14 | 15 |
| Jenner Gardens | 28 | 4 | 22 | 6 | 52 | 60 |
| Imperial Gardens | 25 | 2 | 6 | - | 36 | 22 |
| Cheltenham Bowling Club | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| Montpellier Gardens | 15 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 23 | 24 |
| The Park | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| Asquith Road Allotments | 5 | - | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Benhall Park | 11 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Sandford Lido | 7 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Cheltenham
The 20 most recent crime reports in Cheltenham.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Clarence Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Quebec Drive | |
| March 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| February 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| February 2026 | Other theft | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| February 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Knapp Lane | |
| February 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ismay Road | |
| February 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| February 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Naunton Crescent | |
| January 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near West Drive | |
| January 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near West Drive | |
| January 2026 | Burglary | On or near Langdale Road | |
| January 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Peter Pennell Close | |
| January 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Sun Street | |
| January 2026 | Other theft | On or near Frank Brookes Road | |
| January 2026 | Public order | On or near Listening Post Close | |
| January 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near High Street | |
| January 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Frank Brookes Road | |
| January 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Frank Brookes Road |
Methodology & Data Sources
Cheltenham 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 Cheltenham 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.
Cheltenham Data Points
For Cheltenham, 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 E43000255.
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 Cheltenham's daytime - or "workday" - population of 87,581 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 Cheltenham