Crime and Safety in Watford Rural
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Watford Rural is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in Hertfordshire, and is the 30th most dangerous overall out of Hertfordshire's 140 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Watford Rural in 2026 is 61 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Hertfordshire's overall crime rate, coming in 1.7% higher than the Hertfordshire rate of 60 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Watford Rural is the 257th most dangerous small town, and the 1,647th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In May 2024, Watford Rural had the worst crime rate in Hertfordshire for shoplifting, with 46 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.9 per 1,000 daytime population. And in February 2025, Watford Rural was the worst small town in Hertfordshire for criminal damage and arson, with 13 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.53 per 1,000 daytime population. May 2025 was also a bad month for Watford Rural residents, when it was Hertfordshire's most dangerous small town for shoplifting, recording 32 crimes at a rate of 1.3 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Watford Rural are violence and sexual offences, with 629 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 25. This is 6% higher than 2025's figure of 596 offences and a difference of 1.33 from 2025's crime rate of 24. Watford Rural's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 4 offences recorded in 2026.
Watford Rural 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 5 Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Hertfordshire
0.33% lower, regional crime rate
East of England
15% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Watford Rural is 0.33% lower than the East of England and 15% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Watford Rural Crime Rate Over Time
| Watford Rural | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Watford Rural Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Watford Rural 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 Watford Rural Compares
You can compare Watford Rural'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 Watford Rural's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Watford Rural up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Watford Rural's 512 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 Watford Rural? 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
Watford Rural • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Watford Rural has a crime risk score of 407. This is based on analysis of 512 nearby areas within Watford Rural, 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 Watford Rural's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Watford Rural, crime risk scores are typically around 407, while in Hertfordshire they are average 456.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 476 (472 for Hertfordshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 499 (Hertfordshire 489).
Trends in Crime Risk
Watford Rural
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 34% in Watford Rural'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 Watford Rural's crime risk score is up by 11%. 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, Watford Rural's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 13%, 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
Watford Rural
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
Watford Rural • 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.
Shoplifting offences have a crime rate of 12 reports per 1,000 people in Watford Rural, which is 1.64 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 288 crime reports logged by Hertfordshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Hertfordshire Police recorded 72 reports of Drugs in Watford Rural, resulting in a crime rate of 2.90 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.94.
The crime rate for Vehicle Crime is 0.89 times the national average at 3.84 reports per 1,000. This is from 95 crime reports reported to Hertfordshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Watford Rural
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.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.33 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 0.31 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 6% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.91 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.71 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 28% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.15 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.50 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 330% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Watford Rural
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.00 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 75% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.57 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.14 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 50% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Watford Rural • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Watford Rural | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 369 | 14.96 | 1.06 | 21,601 | 15.50 | 1.10 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 4 | 0.16 | 1.14 | 917 | 0.66 | 0.90 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 60 | 2.40 | 0.77 | 3,683 | 2.65 | 0.85 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 129 | 5.22 | 0.83 | 6,931 | 4.97 | 0.79 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 72 | 2.90 | 0.94 | 3,411 | 2.45 | 0.79 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 30 | 1.20 | 0.71 | 1,983 | 1.41 | 0.76 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 74 | 2.96 | 0.52 | 8,371 | 6.01 | 1.06 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 9 | 0.36 | 0.86 | 861 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 106 | 4.29 | 0.74 | 5,446 | 3.91 | 0.67 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 13 | 0.52 | 0.58 | 991 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 288 | 11.68 | 1.64 | 8,328 | 5.99 | 0.84 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 8 | 0.32 | 0.36 | 954 | 0.68 | 0.44 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 95 | 3.84 | 0.89 | 6,049 | 4.35 | 1.01 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 629 | 25.48 | 0.84 | 36,109 | 25.93 | 0.85 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Watford Rural | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,517 | 61.33 | 0.88 | 84,034 | 60.33 | 0.84 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 1,461 | 59.68 | 0.84 | 82,503 | 59.54 | 0.80 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 1,405 | 58.42 | 0.81 | 73,907 | 53.85 | 0.71 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 1,177 | 50.32 | 0.66 | 76,470 | 56.33 | 0.71 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 1,285 | 56.00 | 0.76 | 74,426 | 55.22 | 0.72 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 1,289 | 56.91 | 0.86 | 72,746 | 54.15 | 0.79 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 1,440 | 64.02 | 0.88 | 82,388 | 61.55 | 0.83 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 1,173 | 52.21 | 0.70 | 86,563 | 64.71 | 0.85 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 1,234 | 55.10 | 0.80 | 84,008 | 63.06 | 0.89 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 963 | 43.01 | 0.71 | 77,119 | 58.04 | 0.91 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 280 | 12.48 | 0.68 | 21,894 | 16.50 | 0.87 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Watford Rural Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Colney | 1,068 | 102.37 | 67% more dangerous |
| Waltham Cross | 1,254 | 98.09 | 60% more dangerous |
| Baldock | 683 | 62.64 | 2.1% more dangerous |
| Potters Bar | 1,792 | 69.26 | 13% more dangerous |
| Watford Rural | 1,517 | 61.33 | - |
| St Stephen | 1,010 | 59.50 | 3.0% safer |
| Sawbridgeworth | 502 | 48.33 | 21% safer |
| Ware | 1,084 | 51.30 | 16% safer |
| Aldenham | 523 | 48.20 | 21% safer |
| North Mymms | 448 | 43.98 | 28% safer |
| Abbots Langley | 1,311 | 49.94 | 19% safer |
| Sandridge | 547 | 42.04 | 31% safer |
| Berkhamsted | 826 | 39.63 | 35% safer |
| Royston | 793 | 39.52 | 36% safer |
| Tring | 535 | 37.77 | 38% safer |
| Welwyn | 320 | 33.28 | 46% safer |
| Chorleywood | 398 | 32.96 | 46% safer |
Comparing Watford Rural to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Watford Rural | 61.33 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 30% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 35% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 37% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 60% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 71% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 71% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 74% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 75% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 76% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 104% more dangerous |
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Offences In and Around Watford Rural's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Watford Rural 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Shaw Garden | 36 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 40 |
| Moortown Road Play Area | 2 | - | - | - | 9 | 5 |
| Oxhey Bowls Club | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| King George V Playing Fields | 18 | 2 | 5 | - | 24 | 10 |
| Oxhey Grange Playing Fields | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| South Oxhey Leisure Centre | 5 | - | 1 | - | 3 | 6 |
| Prestwick Road Allotments | 11 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 12 |
| Birstall Green Allotments | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| Markeston Green Allotments | 2 | - | - | - | 3 | 1 |
| South Oxhey Playing Fields | 70 | 5 | 14 | - | 69 | 47 |
| Ashford Green Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Carpenders Park Cemetery | 3 | 2 | - | - | 5 | 2 |
| Ashridge Play Area | 7 | - | - | - | 16 | 5 |
| Ann Shaw Gardens Play Area | 5 | - | 1 | - | 3 | 6 |
Recent Crimes in Watford Rural
The 20 most recent crime reports in Watford Rural.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Bridlington Road | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Morriston Close | |
| April 2026 | Bicycle theft | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Alva Way | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Alva Way | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Johnstone Close | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Hallowes Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Sleaford Green | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near The Willows | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Ilkley Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Sleaford Green | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Hallowes Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Prestwick Road | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Huntercrombe Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hallowes Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Furze Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hallowes Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Furze Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Mundesley Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Embleton Road |
Methodology & Data Sources
Watford Rural 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 Watford Rural 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.
Watford Rural Data Points
For Watford Rural, 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 E04004815.
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 Watford Rural's daytime - or "workday" - population of 14,621 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 Watford Rural