Crime and Safety in Burton upon Trent
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Burton upon Trent is the third most dangerous major town in Staffordshire, and is the 29th most dangerous overall out of Staffordshire's 197 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Burton upon Trent in 2026 is 77 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Staffordshire's overall crime rate, coming in 11% higher than the Staffordshire rate of 69 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Burton upon Trent is the 48th safest major town, and the 1,189th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Burton upon Trent was the worst major town in Staffordshire for other crime, with 16 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.25 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Burton upon Trent residents, when it was Staffordshire's most dangerous major town for public order, recording 42 crimes at a rate of 0.65 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Burton upon Trent are violence and sexual offences, with 2,407 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 37. This is 4.4% higher than 2025's figure of 2,306 offences and a difference of 1.61 from 2025's crime rate of 35. Burton upon Trent's least common crime is theft from the person, with 24 offences recorded in 2026, the same as 2025's figure of 24 crimes.
Burton upon Trent 2026 Crime Scorecard
Third Most Dangerous
Major Towns, Staffordshire
1.4% higher, regional crime rate
West Midlands
6% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Burton upon Trent is 1.4% higher than the West Midlands and 6% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Burton upon Trent Crime Rate Over Time
| Burton upon Trent | |
| West Midlands | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Burton upon Trent Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Burton upon Trent 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 Burton upon Trent Compares
You can compare Burton upon Trent'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 Burton upon Trent's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Burton upon Trent up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Burton upon Trent's 1,074 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 Burton upon Trent? 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
Burton upon Trent • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Burton upon Trent has a crime risk score of 614. This is based on analysis of 1,074 nearby areas within Burton upon Trent, 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 Burton upon Trent's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Burton upon Trent, crime risk scores are typically around 614, while in Staffordshire they are average 572.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 648 (579 for Staffordshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 696 (Staffordshire 590).
Trends in Crime Risk
Burton upon Trent
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 9% in Burton upon Trent'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.
The five-year trend may be static; no significant trend was identified in Burton upon Trent's crime risk scores during this timeframe.
Over the last year, Burton upon Trent's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 14%, 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
Burton upon Trent
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
Burton upon Trent • 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.
Public Order offences have a crime rate of 7.85 reports per 1,000 people in Burton upon Trent, which is 1.35 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 510 crime reports logged by Staffordshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Staffordshire Police recorded 263 reports of Drugs in Burton upon Trent, resulting in a crime rate of 4.03 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.30.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 1.22 times the national average at 37 reports per 1,000. This is from 2,407 crime reports reported to Staffordshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Burton upon Trent
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.
Drugs offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.13 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.95 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 19% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.35 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.02 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 32% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Burton upon Trent
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.71 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.29 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 45% over this timeframe.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.17 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 a decrease of 74% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.05 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.52 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 102% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Burton upon Trent • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Burton upon Trent | Staffordshire | West Midlands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 711 | 10.96 | 0.78 | 16,480 | 12.94 | 0.92 | 59,827 | 8.79 | 0.62 |
| Bicycle Theft | 51 | 0.78 | 1.07 | 725 | 0.55 | 0.75 | 3,572 | 0.53 | 0.73 |
| Burglary | 152 | 2.34 | 0.75 | 3,630 | 2.86 | 0.91 | 24,188 | 3.54 | 1.13 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 348 | 5.35 | 0.85 | 7,263 | 5.69 | 0.91 | 43,744 | 6.42 | 1.02 |
| Drugs | 263 | 4.03 | 1.30 | 3,113 | 2.45 | 0.79 | 16,314 | 2.38 | 0.77 |
| Other Crime | 117 | 1.80 | 0.97 | 2,374 | 1.87 | 1.01 | 12,162 | 1.79 | 0.97 |
| Other Theft | 328 | 5.04 | 0.89 | 5,911 | 4.63 | 0.81 | 34,029 | 5.00 | 0.88 |
| Possession of Weapons | 55 | 0.86 | 1.01 | 1,180 | 0.92 | 1.08 | 9,710 | 1.44 | 1.69 |
| Public Order | 510 | 7.85 | 1.35 | 8,461 | 6.65 | 1.15 | 36,155 | 5.32 | 0.92 |
| Robbery | 67 | 1.03 | 0.87 | 1,145 | 0.91 | 0.77 | 9,171 | 1.35 | 1.14 |
| Shoplifting | 479 | 7.37 | 1.03 | 6,813 | 5.33 | 0.75 | 51,348 | 7.55 | 1.06 |
| Theft From the Person | 24 | 0.39 | 0.25 | 243 | 0.18 | 0.12 | 3,487 | 0.49 | 0.32 |
| Vehicle Crime | 177 | 2.73 | 0.63 | 4,823 | 3.79 | 0.88 | 38,628 | 5.68 | 1.32 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 2,407 | 37.06 | 1.22 | 42,473 | 33.32 | 1.10 | 231,901 | 34.05 | 1.12 |
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Total Crime by Year
Burton upon Trent | Staffordshire | West Midlands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 4,978 | 76.63 | 1.06 | 88,154 | 69.15 | 0.96 | 514,409 | 75.54 | 1.05 |
| 2025 | 4,839 | 74.47 | 1.01 | 85,700 | 67.65 | 0.91 | 516,162 | 76.32 | 1.03 |
| 2024 | 4,954 | 76.58 | 1.02 | 86,207 | 68.73 | 0.91 | 539,253 | 80.45 | 1.07 |
| 2023 | 5,426 | 85.42 | 1.08 | 95,667 | 77.26 | 0.98 | 598,904 | 90.62 | 1.15 |
| 2022 | 3,852 | 61.79 | 0.81 | 72,417 | 59.31 | 0.77 | 564,120 | 86.38 | 1.12 |
| 2021 | 3,323 | 53.95 | 0.79 | 62,296 | 51.31 | 0.75 | 463,870 | 71.46 | 1.04 |
| 2020 | 3,607 | 59.30 | 0.80 | 69,621 | 57.62 | 0.78 | 450,576 | 69.72 | 0.94 |
| 2019 | 3,900 | 65.49 | 0.86 | 71,310 | 59.25 | 0.78 | 460,715 | 71.52 | 0.94 |
| 2018 | 3,957 | 67.56 | 0.95 | 72,420 | 60.44 | 0.85 | 430,050 | 67.10 | 0.94 |
| 2017 | 3,911 | 67.48 | 1.06 | 70,193 | 58.79 | 0.92 | 395,755 | 62.08 | 0.97 |
| 2016 | 1,220 | 21.09 | 1.11 | 21,257 | 17.84 | 0.94 | 117,881 | 18.57 | 0.97 |
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Burton upon Trent Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford | 5,501 | 76.35 | 0.37% safer |
| Burton upon Trent | 4,978 | 76.63 | - |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 6,179 | 74.24 | 3.1% safer |
| Cannock | 4,705 | 68.26 | 11% safer |
| Tamworth | 5,654 | 64.72 | 16% safer |
Comparing Burton upon Trent to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Burton upon Trent | 76.63 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 3.8% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 8% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 10% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 28% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 37% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 37% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 39% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 40% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 41% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 63% more dangerous |
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Offences In and Around Burton upon Trent's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Burton upon Trent 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eton Road Allotments | - | - | 2 | - | 1 | 0 |
| Shobnall Leisure Complex | 12 | 1 | 3 | - | 6 | 7 |
| Anglesey Allotments | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 8 | 8 |
| Clays Lane Park | 2 | 1 | 5 | - | 3 | 19 |
| Meadowside Leisure Centre | 5 | - | 4 | - | 7 | 19 |
| Ox Hay Pleasure Ground | 11 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 50 | 32 |
| Bradmore Road Allotments | - | - | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Mona Lands C Allotments | - | - | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Branston Water Park | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
Recent Crimes in Burton upon Trent
The 20 most recent crime reports in Burton upon Trent.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Hospital | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Hospital | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Addison Way | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Uxbridge Street | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Pumpers Yard | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near B5017 | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near B5017 | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Victoria Street | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Hospital | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Queen Street | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Queen Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Hospital | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Arthur Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Arthur Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near B5017 | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Whitebeam Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hospital | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Victoria Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Cross Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hospital |
Methodology & Data Sources
Burton upon Trent 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 Burton upon Trent 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.
Burton upon Trent Data Points
For Burton upon Trent, 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 E63002256.
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 Burton upon Trent's daytime - or "workday" - population of 63,035 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 Burton upon Trent