Merseyside Crime Statistics
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The overall crime rate in Merseyside as of April 2026 is 85 crimes per 1,000 people, and the most common crimes are violence and sexual offences, with reports coming from roughly every 37 out of 1,000 daytime population.
Comparing Merseyside's larger towns and cities, and using Crime Risk Scores - which are calculated by taking severity of each crime type into account - Liverpool is the most dangerous. The next most dangerous is Wallasey, and St Helens comes in as third most dangerous. There are safer parts of Merseyside, identified using the same Crime Risk measurement, starting with Southport which ranks as the safest area in Merseyside, followed up by Birkenhead in second place.
Merseyside Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Merseyside 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.
Introduction to Merseyside's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Merseyside up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Merseyside's 55,991 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
Merseyside • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Merseyside has a crime risk score of 565. This is based on analysis of 55,991 nearby areas within Merseyside, 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 Merseyside's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Merseyside, crime risk scores are typically around 565, while in North West they are average 512.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 599 (505 for North West), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 607 (North West 503).
Trends in Crime Risk
Merseyside
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 4.3% in Merseyside'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 Merseyside's crime risk score is down by 9%. 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, Merseyside's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 0.81%, 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
Merseyside
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
Merseyside • 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.
Drugs offences have a crime rate of 8.37 reports per 1,000 people in Merseyside, which is 2.71 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 13,621 crime reports logged by Merseyside Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Merseyside Police recorded 15,065 reports of Public Order in Merseyside, resulting in a crime rate of 9.28 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.60.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 1.23 times the national average at 7.72 reports per 1,000. This is from 12,556 crime reports reported to Merseyside Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Merseyside
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.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.74 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.66 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 12% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.70 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 0.67 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 4.5% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.13 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 1.25 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 10% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Merseyside
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.74 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 2.67 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 2.6% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.42 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 2.06 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 31% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.79 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.90 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 12% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Merseyside • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Merseyside | North West | Merseyside Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 14,742 | 9.07 | 0.64 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 | 14,754 | 9.06 | 0.64 |
| Bicycle Theft | 1,158 | 0.69 | 0.95 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 | 1,158 | 0.69 | 0.95 |
| Burglary | 3,957 | 2.45 | 0.78 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 | 3,963 | 2.44 | 0.78 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 12,556 | 7.72 | 1.23 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 | 12,561 | 7.71 | 1.23 |
| Drugs | 13,621 | 8.37 | 2.71 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 | 13,627 | 8.36 | 2.71 |
| Other Crime | 3,703 | 2.28 | 1.23 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 | 3,705 | 2.27 | 1.23 |
| Other Theft | 8,073 | 4.97 | 0.87 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 | 8,081 | 4.97 | 0.87 |
| Possession of Weapons | 1,415 | 0.87 | 1.02 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 | 1,416 | 0.86 | 1.01 |
| Public Order | 15,065 | 9.28 | 1.60 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 | 15,078 | 9.27 | 1.60 |
| Robbery | 1,488 | 0.92 | 0.78 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 | 1,488 | 0.92 | 0.78 |
| Shoplifting | 10,571 | 6.51 | 0.91 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 | 10,571 | 6.51 | 0.91 |
| Theft From the Person | 846 | 0.52 | 0.34 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 846 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 5,106 | 3.13 | 0.73 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 | 5,107 | 3.13 | 0.73 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 60,389 | 37.15 | 1.22 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 | 60,427 | 37.09 | 1.22 |
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Total Crime by Year
Merseyside | North West | Merseyside Police | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 137,948 | 84.86 | 1.18 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 | 138,028 | 84.74 | 1.18 |
| 2025 | 134,669 | 83.12 | 1.12 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 | 134,740 | 83.04 | 1.12 |
| 2024 | 143,136 | 89.04 | 1.18 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 | 143,225 | 88.95 | 1.18 |
| 2023 | 167,521 | 105.45 | 1.33 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 | 167,641 | 105.33 | 1.33 |
| 2022 | 167,243 | 106.55 | 1.39 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 | 167,354 | 106.39 | 1.39 |
| 2021 | 131,617 | 84.36 | 1.23 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 | 131,696 | 84.26 | 1.23 |
| 2020 | 133,992 | 86.00 | 1.16 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 | 134,103 | 85.91 | 1.16 |
| 2019 | 134,221 | 86.18 | 1.13 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 | 134,307 | 86.10 | 1.13 |
| 2018 | 125,895 | 81.10 | 1.14 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 | 125,968 | 80.96 | 1.14 |
| 2017 | 110,860 | 71.66 | 1.12 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 | 110,930 | 71.55 | 1.12 |
| 2016 | 32,317 | 20.91 | 1.10 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 | 32,334 | 20.90 | 1.10 |
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The Merseyside 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 Merseyside has multiple identical street names - which is not unusual - they will be treated separately by CrimeRate's systems.
| Street | Crime Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainford Gardens Liverpool | 187 | ||||||||
| Catherine Street Birkenhead | 98 | ||||||||
| Nightclub St Helens | 87 | ||||||||
| Police Station Newton-le-Willows | 71 | ||||||||
| Back Stanley Road Bootle | 68 | ||||||||
| The Green Crosby | 57 | ||||||||
| Irlam Drive Kirkby | 46 | ||||||||
| Bolton Road Southport | 44 | ||||||||
| Hall Lane Prescot | 35 | ||||||||
| Parkbourn North Maghull | 34 | ||||||||
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Town and City Comparison
| Town / City | Crime Count | Crime Rate | CrimeRate Index | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescot | 1,773 | 114.65 | 1.66 | ||||||
| Liverpool | 63,381 | 106.43 | 1.48 | ||||||
| Bootle | 6,446 | 103.53 | 1.44 | ||||||
| St Helens | 11,778 | 100.28 | 1.40 | ||||||
| Birkenhead | 11,597 | 92.36 | 1.28 | ||||||
| Litherland | 1,691 | 90.18 | 1.29 | ||||||
| Whiston | 1,221 | 87.11 | 1.28 | ||||||
| Kirkby | 3,817 | 83.75 | 1.17 | ||||||
| Knowsley | 1,062 | 76.77 | 1.19 | ||||||
| Wallasey | 4,460 | 73.12 | 1.03 | ||||||
| Newton-le-Willows | 1,913 | 72.37 | 1.05 | ||||||
| Southport | 6,962 | 68.67 | 0.95 | ||||||
| Haydock | 1,064 | 63.92 | 0.93 | ||||||
| Halewood | 1,327 | 61.26 | 0.89 | ||||||
| Crosby | 3,074 | 58.09 | 0.82 | ||||||
| Hoylake | 274 | 50.21 | 0.89 | ||||||
| Bebington | 2,821 | 46.01 | 0.65 | ||||||
| Maghull | 931 | 41.98 | 0.62 | ||||||
| Formby | 937 | 41.72 | 0.62 | ||||||
| Rainhill | 454 | 40.57 | 0.66 | ||||||
| West Kirby | 463 | 35.02 | 0.56 | ||||||
| Rainford | 274 | 31.25 | 0.55 | ||||||
| Eccleston | 309 | 29.07 | 0.51 | ||||||
| Heswall | 839 | 29.00 | 0.44 | ||||||
| Greasby | 201 | 22.16 | 0.41 | ||||||
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