Crime and Safety in Didcot
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Didcot is the third most dangerous medium-sized town in Oxfordshire, and is the 36th most dangerous overall out of Oxfordshire's 312 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Didcot in 2026 is 50 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Oxfordshire's overall crime rate, coming in 6% lower than the Oxfordshire rate of 53 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Didcot is the 42nd safest medium-sized town, and the 2,611st most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Didcot was the worst medium-sized town in Oxfordshire for other theft, with 17 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.48 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Didcot residents, when it was Oxfordshire's most dangerous medium-sized town for possession of weapons, recording 1 crime at a rate of 0.03 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Didcot are violence and sexual offences, with 905 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 26. This is 5% lower than 2025's figure of 957 offences and a difference of 1.48 from 2025's crime rate of 27. Didcot's least common crime is theft from the person, with 9 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 44% from 2025's figure of 16 crimes.
Didcot 2026 Crime Scorecard
Third Most Dangerous
Medium-Sized Towns, Oxfordshire
19% lower, regional crime rate
South East
31% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Didcot is 19% lower than the South East and 31% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Didcot Crime Rate Over Time
| Didcot | |
| South East | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Didcot Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Didcot 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 Didcot Compares
You can compare Didcot'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 Didcot's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Didcot up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Didcot's 735 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 Didcot? 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
Didcot • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Didcot has a crime risk score of 463. This is based on analysis of 735 nearby areas within Didcot, 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 Didcot's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Didcot, crime risk scores are typically around 463, while in Oxfordshire they are average 409.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 538 (399 for Oxfordshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 536 (Oxfordshire 400).
Trends in Crime Risk
Didcot
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 8% in Didcot'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 Didcot's crime risk score is down by 15%. 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, Didcot's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 13%, 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
Didcot
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
Didcot • 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.
Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 0.63 reports per 1,000 people in Didcot, which is 0.89 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 22 crime reports logged by Thames Valley Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Thames Valley Police recorded 905 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Didcot, resulting in a crime rate of 26 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.84.
The crime rate for Shoplifting is 0.72 times the national average at 5.12 reports per 1,000. This is from 181 crime reports reported to Thames Valley Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Didcot
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, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.60 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 10% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.89 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.00 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 11% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.86 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 an increase of 0% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Didcot
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
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.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.48 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 16% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.90 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.87 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 3.4% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Didcot • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Didcot | Oxfordshire | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 252 | 7.12 | 0.50 | 5,244 | 6.03 | 0.43 | 115,500 | 10.87 | 0.77 |
| Bicycle Theft | 25 | 0.70 | 1.40 | 1,242 | 1.42 | 1.95 | 7,315 | 0.68 | 0.93 |
| Burglary | 39 | 1.10 | 0.35 | 1,826 | 2.09 | 0.67 | 23,535 | 2.23 | 0.71 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 149 | 4.20 | 0.67 | 3,683 | 4.24 | 0.68 | 58,501 | 5.50 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 54 | 1.53 | 0.50 | 1,544 | 1.77 | 0.57 | 25,203 | 2.37 | 0.77 |
| Other Crime | 26 | 0.74 | 0.54 | 1,026 | 1.17 | 0.63 | 17,151 | 1.61 | 0.87 |
| Other Theft | 130 | 3.67 | 0.64 | 4,031 | 4.63 | 0.81 | 51,336 | 4.84 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 22 | 0.63 | 0.89 | 334 | 0.37 | 0.44 | 8,736 | 0.81 | 0.95 |
| Public Order | 146 | 4.13 | 0.71 | 4,184 | 4.79 | 0.83 | 54,745 | 5.15 | 0.89 |
| Robbery | 22 | 0.63 | 0.64 | 484 | 0.55 | 0.47 | 7,588 | 0.72 | 0.61 |
| Shoplifting | 181 | 5.12 | 0.72 | 4,959 | 5.69 | 0.80 | 72,983 | 6.88 | 0.96 |
| Theft From the Person | 9 | 0.26 | 0.39 | 543 | 0.61 | 0.39 | 4,668 | 0.45 | 0.29 |
| Vehicle Crime | 44 | 1.23 | 0.29 | 2,064 | 2.37 | 0.55 | 34,099 | 3.22 | 0.75 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 905 | 25.58 | 0.84 | 20,006 | 22.96 | 0.76 | 286,815 | 26.98 | 0.89 |
Download | |||||||||
Total Crime by Year
Didcot | Oxfordshire | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,752 | 49.52 | 0.71 | 45,926 | 52.66 | 0.73 | 652,675 | 61.44 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 1,937 | 55.07 | 0.76 | 47,473 | 54.75 | 0.74 | 670,274 | 63.35 | 0.86 |
| 2024 | 1,719 | 50.17 | 0.68 | 47,431 | 55.35 | 0.73 | 690,903 | 65.86 | 0.87 |
| 2023 | 2,026 | 60.43 | 0.78 | 51,233 | 60.76 | 0.77 | 713,547 | 68.83 | 0.87 |
| 2022 | 2,055 | 62.30 | 0.82 | 49,164 | 59.40 | 0.77 | 704,444 | 68.58 | 0.89 |
| 2021 | 1,685 | 52.36 | 0.78 | 41,990 | 51.46 | 0.75 | 625,484 | 61.36 | 0.89 |
| 2020 | 1,480 | 47.10 | 0.65 | 39,686 | 49.11 | 0.66 | 669,219 | 65.97 | 0.89 |
| 2019 | 1,289 | 41.56 | 0.56 | 39,535 | 49.37 | 0.65 | 666,505 | 65.82 | 0.86 |
| 2018 | 1,307 | 42.71 | 0.61 | 38,049 | 47.83 | 0.67 | 644,142 | 63.85 | 0.90 |
| 2017 | 1,224 | 40.82 | 0.65 | 36,123 | 45.79 | 0.72 | 552,696 | 55.04 | 0.86 |
| 2016 | 382 | 12.85 | 0.69 | 10,357 | 13.12 | 0.69 | 160,273 | 15.99 | 0.84 |
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Didcot Compared to Nearby Medium-Sized Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
Comparing Didcot to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Didcot | 49.52 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 61% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 67% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 70% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 98% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 111% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 112% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 115% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 116% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 118% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 152% 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 Didcot's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Didcot 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willowbrook Leisure Centre | 8 | 3 | 5 | - | 6 | 6 |
| Edmonds Park | 5 | 2 | 7 | - | 49 | 17 |
| The Didcot Wave | 3 | 1 | 5 | - | 41 | 10 |
| Boundary Park | 10 | 1 | 4 | - | 12 | 5 |
| Smallbone Recreation Park | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 2 |
Recent Crimes in Didcot
The 20 most recent crime reports in Didcot.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Larch Drive | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Peacock Mews | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Sandringham Road | |
| April 2026 | Possession of weapons | On or near Blackthorn Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Eider Way | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Craven Way | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Dirac Place | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near The Oval | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Lydalls Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Sandringham Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Queensway | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Craven Way | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Police Station | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Craven Way | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Diamond Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Brent Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Alphin Brook | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Sir Frank Williams Avenue |
Methodology & Data Sources
Didcot 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 Didcot 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.
Didcot Data Points
For Didcot, 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 E04012477.
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 Didcot's daytime - or "workday" - population of 19,386 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 Didcot