Crime and Safety in Ipswich
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Ipswich is the safest major town in Suffolk, and is the 28th most dangerous overall out of Suffolk's 461 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Ipswich in 2026 is 78 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Suffolk's overall crime rate, coming in 52% higher than the Suffolk rate of 51 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Ipswich is the 50th safest major town, and the 1,170th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In October 2019, Ipswich had the worst crime rate in Suffolk for robbery, with 19 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.11 per 1,000 daytime population. And in January 2026, Ipswich was the worst major town in Suffolk for drugs, with 38 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.23 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Ipswich residents, when it was Suffolk's most dangerous major town for other crime, recording 23 crimes at a rate of 0.14 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Ipswich are violence and sexual offences, with 5,694 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 34. This is 3.7% higher than 2025's figure of 5,491 offences and a difference of 1.20 from 2025's crime rate of 33. Ipswich's least common crime is theft from the person, with 94 offences recorded in 2026, the same as 2025's figure of 94 crimes.
Ipswich 2026 Crime Scorecard
Safest
Major Towns, Suffolk
27% higher, regional crime rate
East of England
9% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Ipswich is 27% higher than the East of England and 9% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Ipswich Crime Rate Over Time
| Ipswich | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Ipswich Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Ipswich 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 Ipswich Compares
You can compare Ipswich'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 Ipswich's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Ipswich up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Ipswich's 3,337 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 Ipswich? 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
Ipswich • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Ipswich has a crime risk score of 544. This is based on analysis of 3,337 nearby areas within Ipswich, 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 Ipswich's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Ipswich, crime risk scores are typically around 544, while in Suffolk they are average 435.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 617 (402 for Suffolk), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 657 (Suffolk 387).
Trends in Crime Risk
Ipswich
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 11% in Ipswich'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 Ipswich's crime risk score is down by 6%. 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, Ipswich's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 1.9%, 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
Ipswich
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
Ipswich • 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 13 reports per 1,000 people in Ipswich, which is 1.89 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 2,228 crime reports logged by Suffolk Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Suffolk Police recorded 211 reports of Possession of Weapons in Ipswich, resulting in a crime rate of 1.27 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.49.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 1.13 times the national average at 34 reports per 1,000. This is from 5,694 crime reports reported to Suffolk Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Ipswich
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 0.57 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.30 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 90% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.80 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 19% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.20 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.54 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 43% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Ipswich
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.96 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 a decrease of 1.1% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.46 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 1.03 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 55% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.13 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.92 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 23% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Ipswich • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Ipswich | Suffolk | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 1,019 | 6.16 | 0.44 | 4,088 | 4.73 | 0.33 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 142 | 0.84 | 1.15 | 425 | 0.50 | 0.68 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 310 | 1.88 | 0.60 | 1,730 | 2.01 | 0.64 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 1,122 | 6.78 | 1.08 | 4,458 | 5.18 | 0.82 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 386 | 2.33 | 0.75 | 1,296 | 1.50 | 0.49 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 310 | 1.89 | 1.02 | 1,477 | 1.71 | 0.92 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 849 | 5.14 | 0.90 | 3,265 | 3.79 | 0.67 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 211 | 1.27 | 1.49 | 691 | 0.80 | 0.94 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 855 | 5.16 | 0.89 | 3,020 | 3.51 | 0.61 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 123 | 0.75 | 0.64 | 293 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 2,228 | 13.46 | 1.89 | 4,281 | 4.98 | 0.70 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 94 | 0.54 | 0.35 | 246 | 0.29 | 0.19 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 645 | 3.89 | 0.90 | 1,965 | 2.29 | 0.53 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 5,694 | 34.40 | 1.13 | 21,113 | 24.51 | 0.81 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Ipswich | Suffolk | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 12,969 | 78.33 | 1.09 | 44,260 | 51.40 | 0.71 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 12,448 | 75.57 | 1.02 | 44,049 | 51.69 | 0.70 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 12,888 | 78.71 | 1.04 | 45,625 | 54.02 | 0.72 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 15,002 | 91.42 | 1.16 | 51,203 | 61.13 | 0.77 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 13,962 | 84.74 | 1.10 | 51,115 | 61.63 | 0.80 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 13,225 | 79.99 | 1.17 | 48,176 | 58.61 | 0.85 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 14,601 | 88.00 | 1.19 | 48,388 | 59.19 | 0.80 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 17,123 | 102.79 | 1.35 | 54,176 | 66.57 | 0.87 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 16,329 | 98.05 | 1.38 | 52,839 | 65.11 | 0.92 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 13,743 | 82.76 | 1.29 | 45,316 | 56.09 | 0.88 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 4,156 | 25.12 | 1.32 | 13,418 | 16.66 | 0.87 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Ipswich Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowestoft | 4,610 | 87.25 | 11% more dangerous |
| Ipswich | 12,969 | 78.33 | - |
Comparing Ipswich to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Ipswich | 78.33 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 1.6% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 6% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 7% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 25% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 34% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 34% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 36% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 37% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 38% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 60% 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 Ipswich's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Ipswich 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitton Sports and Community Centre | 2 | 1 | 4 | - | 8 | 3 |
| Gainsborough Sports Centre | 3 | - | 3 | - | 36 | 27 |
| Orwell Country Park | 5 | - | 4 | - | 20 | 30 |
| King George V Playing Field | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Whitton BMX Open Space | 23 | 2 | 5 | - | 24 | 17 |
| Whitehouse Recreation Ground | 3 | - | - | - | 19 | 5 |
| Clarice House Leisure Club | - | - | 1 | - | 4 | 3 |
| Sherrington Road Park | 5 | 1 | - | - | 8 | 9 |
| Maple Park Play Area | 5 | 3 | 4 | - | 7 | 10 |
| Gippeswyk Park | 6 | 7 | 25 | 3 | 95 | 67 |
| Christchurch Park | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 58 | 35 |
| Northgate Sports Centre | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1 |
| Ipswich Borough Cemeteries | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 10 | 7 |
| Lawn Garden Cemetery | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Crown Pools | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 31 | 95 |
| Suffolk New College Sports Centre | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | 17 | 11 |
| Roundwood Bowling Club | - | - | 1 | - | 6 | 2 |
| Alexandra Park | 1 | - | 3 | - | 37 | 32 |
| Ipswich Rugby Football Club | 3 | - | - | - | 11 | 0 |
| Stonelodge Park | 4 | - | 2 | - | 23 | 9 |
| Holywells Park | - | - | - | - | 6 | 10 |
| Landseer Park | 18 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 53 | 45 |
| Broom Hill Park | 4 | 1 | - | - | 12 | 8 |
| Chantry Park | 5 | - | 3 | - | 17 | 12 |
| Ellenbrook Open Space | 4 | 2 | - | - | 10 | 6 |
| Bramford Lane Open Space | - | - | - | - | 3 | 2 |
| Bosmere Green | 1 | - | 1 | - | 6 | 3 |
| Bourne Park | 5 | 2 | 3 | - | 16 | 6 |
Recent Crimes in Ipswich
The 20 most recent crime reports in Ipswich.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Redwald Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Robbery | On or near Regent Street | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hillside Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Redwald Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Temple Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Temple Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Pauline Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Redwald Crescent |
Methodology & Data Sources
Ipswich 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 Ipswich 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.
Ipswich Data Points
For Ipswich, 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 E43000134.
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 Ipswich's daytime - or "workday" - population of 139,505 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 Ipswich