Crime and Safety in Kirkby, Merseyside
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Kirkby is the second most dangerous medium-sized town in Merseyside, and is among the top 10 most dangerous overall out of Merseyside's 39 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Kirkby in 2026 is 84 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Merseyside's overall crime rate, coming in 1.3% lower than the Merseyside rate of 85 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Kirkby is the 67th most dangerous medium-sized town, and the 962nd most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In February 2024, Kirkby had the worst crime rate in Merseyside for drugs, with 65 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.4 per 1,000 daytime population. June 2024 was also a bad month for Kirkby residents, when it was again Merseyside's most dangerous area for drugs, recording 60 crimes at a rate of 1.3 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Kirkby are violence and sexual offences, with 1,782 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 39. This is 1.7% higher than 2025's figure of 1,753 offences and a difference of 0.46 from 2025's crime rate of 39. Kirkby's least common crime is theft from the person, with 14 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 27% from 2025's figure of 11 crimes.
Kirkby 2026 Crime Scorecard
Second Most Dangerous
Medium-Sized Towns, Merseyside
93% higher, regional crime rate
North West
16% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Kirkby is 93% higher than the North West and 16% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Kirkby Crime Rate Over Time
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| North West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Kirkby Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Kirkby 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 Kirkby Compares
You can compare Kirkby'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 Kirkby's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Kirkby up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Kirkby's 1,123 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 Kirkby? 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
Kirkby • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Kirkby has a crime risk score of 686. This is based on analysis of 1,123 nearby areas within Kirkby, 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 Kirkby's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Kirkby, crime risk scores are typically around 686, while in Merseyside they are average 565.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 710 (599 for Merseyside), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 717 (Merseyside 607).
Trends in Crime Risk
Kirkby
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 15% in Kirkby'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 Kirkby's crime risk score is down by 8%. 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, Kirkby's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 0.94%, 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
Kirkby
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
Kirkby • 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 8.11 reports per 1,000 people in Kirkby, which is 2.62 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 369 crime reports logged by Merseyside Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Merseyside Police recorded 466 reports of Criminal Damage and Arson in Kirkby, resulting in a crime rate of 10 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.62.
The crime rate for Public Order is 1.40 times the national average at 8.12 reports per 1,000. This is from 370 crime reports reported to Merseyside Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Kirkby
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.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.17 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 1.30 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 10% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.30 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.22 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 36% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Kirkby
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.29 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.67 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 57% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.17 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 3.19 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 32% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.23 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.73 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 29% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Kirkby • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Kirkby | Merseyside | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 535 | 11.73 | 0.83 | 14,742 | 9.07 | 0.64 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 |
| Bicycle Theft | 34 | 0.76 | 1.27 | 1,158 | 0.69 | 0.95 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 |
| Burglary | 88 | 1.93 | 0.62 | 3,957 | 2.45 | 0.78 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 466 | 10.20 | 1.62 | 12,556 | 7.72 | 1.23 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 |
| Drugs | 369 | 8.11 | 2.62 | 13,621 | 8.37 | 2.71 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 |
| Other Crime | 105 | 2.31 | 1.25 | 3,703 | 2.28 | 1.23 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 |
| Other Theft | 266 | 5.83 | 1.02 | 8,073 | 4.97 | 0.87 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 |
| Possession of Weapons | 38 | 0.84 | 0.99 | 1,415 | 0.87 | 1.02 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 |
| Public Order | 370 | 8.12 | 1.40 | 15,065 | 9.28 | 1.60 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 |
| Robbery | 32 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 1,488 | 0.92 | 0.78 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 |
| Shoplifting | 165 | 3.62 | 0.51 | 10,571 | 6.51 | 0.91 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 |
| Theft From the Person | 14 | 0.30 | 0.29 | 846 | 0.52 | 0.34 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 |
| Vehicle Crime | 88 | 1.93 | 0.45 | 5,106 | 3.13 | 0.73 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 1,782 | 39.10 | 1.29 | 60,389 | 37.15 | 1.22 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 |
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Total Crime by Year
Kirkby | Merseyside | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 3,817 | 83.75 | 1.17 | 137,948 | 84.86 | 1.18 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 |
| 2025 | 3,728 | 82.35 | 1.14 | 134,669 | 83.12 | 1.12 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 |
| 2024 | 3,964 | 87.92 | 1.19 | 143,136 | 89.04 | 1.18 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 |
| 2023 | 4,813 | 108.04 | 1.38 | 167,521 | 105.45 | 1.33 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 4,728 | 107.79 | 1.41 | 167,243 | 106.55 | 1.39 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 |
| 2021 | 4,161 | 95.75 | 1.41 | 131,617 | 84.36 | 1.23 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 |
| 2020 | 3,945 | 91.48 | 1.25 | 133,992 | 86.00 | 1.16 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 |
| 2019 | 3,433 | 80.20 | 1.06 | 134,221 | 86.18 | 1.13 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 |
| 2018 | 3,254 | 76.64 | 1.09 | 125,895 | 81.10 | 1.14 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 |
| 2017 | 2,660 | 62.69 | 0.99 | 110,860 | 71.66 | 1.12 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 |
| 2016 | 824 | 19.40 | 1.03 | 32,317 | 20.91 | 1.10 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 |
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Kirkby Compared to Nearby Medium-Sized Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
Comparing Kirkby to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 5% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 1.3% safer |
| Kirkby | 83.75 | - |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 0.41% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 17% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 25% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 25% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 27% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 28% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 29% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 49% 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 Kirkby's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Kirkby 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower Hill Park | 14 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 53 | 22 |
| John O'Leary Pavilion | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 3 | 3 |
| Northwood Forest Hills | 10 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 27 | 26 |
| Delaware Allotments | - | 3 | 3 | - | 37 | 15 |
| Millbrook Park Millennium Green | 58 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 28 | 62 |
| St Chad's Park | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Valley Park | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 9 |
| Webster Park | 12 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 16 |
| Memorial Park | 18 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 18 |
| Old Rough Park | 8 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 36 | 25 |
| Rainbow Park | 3 | 3 | - | - | 5 | 4 |
| Saxon Green | - | 4 | 1 | - | 12 | 5 |
| Mill Dam Park | 11 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 30 | 15 |
Recent Crimes in Kirkby
The 20 most recent crime reports in Kirkby.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near St Andrew'S View | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Highbarn Road | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Brook Hey Drive | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near St Andrew'S View | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Kersey Walk | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Pershore Road | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Linslade Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Warrenhouse Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Delaware Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Glasven Road | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Irlam Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shakespeare Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dane View | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Linslade Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dane View | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Kirkby Row | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Barnes Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dane View |
Methodology & Data Sources
Kirkby 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 Kirkby during July 2026 will typically become available in September 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.
Kirkby Data Points
For Kirkby, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2022 release of their Built Up Areas dataset, using the BUA22CD column value E63001284.
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 Kirkby's daytime - or "workday" - population of 37,054 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 Kirkby