Crime and Safety in Swindon, Wiltshire
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Swindon is the most dangerous city in Wiltshire, and is the 26th most dangerous overall out of Wiltshire's 272 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Swindon in 2026 is 64 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Wiltshire's overall crime rate, coming in 27% higher than the Wiltshire rate of 50 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Swindon is among the top 10 safest cities, and the 1,523rd most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In April 2022, Swindon had the worst crime rate in Wiltshire for theft from the person, with 12 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.06 per 1,000 daytime population. April 2020 was also a bad month for Swindon residents, when it was Wiltshire's most dangerous area for robbery, recording 4 crimes at a rate of 0.02 per 1,000 daytime population. Swindon recorded 26 reports of robbery during May 2017, making its crime rate of 0.12 once more the worst for robbery in Wiltshire that month.
The most common crimes in Swindon are violence and sexual offences, with 6,578 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 30. This is 2.0% higher than 2025's figure of 6,450 offences and a difference of 0.64 from 2025's crime rate of 29. Swindon's least common crime is theft from the person, with 114 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 5% from 2025's figure of 120 crimes.
Swindon 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Cities, Wiltshire
4.0% higher, regional crime rate
South West
12% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Swindon is 4.0% higher than the South West and 12% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Swindon Crime Rate Over Time
| Swindon | |
| South West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Swindon Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Swindon 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 Swindon Compares
You can compare Swindon'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 Swindon's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Swindon up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Swindon's 3,971 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 Swindon? 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
Swindon • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Swindon has a crime risk score of 494. This is based on analysis of 3,971 nearby areas within Swindon, 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 Swindon's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Swindon, crime risk scores are typically around 494, while in Wiltshire they are average 419.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 570 (404 for Wiltshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 613 (Wiltshire 398).
Trends in Crime Risk
Swindon
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 24% in Swindon'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 Swindon's crime risk score is up by 13%. 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, Swindon's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 5%, 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
Swindon
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
Swindon • 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 6.46 reports per 1,000 people in Swindon, which is 1.11 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 1,412 crime reports logged by Wiltshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Wiltshire Police recorded 6,578 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Swindon, resulting in a crime rate of 30 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.99.
The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 0.98 times the national average at 0.83 reports per 1,000. This is from 184 crime reports reported to Wiltshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Swindon
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.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.29 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.91 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 42% 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.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.06 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.88 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 20% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Swindon
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.57 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.05 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 46% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Swindon • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Swindon | Wiltshire | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 3,352 | 15.33 | 1.08 | 10,091 | 11.87 | 0.84 | 82,030 | 12.62 | 0.89 |
| Bicycle Theft | 213 | 0.98 | 1.34 | 483 | 0.59 | 0.81 | 3,702 | 0.54 | 0.74 |
| Burglary | 351 | 1.61 | 0.51 | 1,615 | 1.89 | 0.60 | 15,750 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 1,199 | 5.49 | 0.87 | 4,320 | 5.08 | 0.81 | 36,459 | 5.64 | 0.90 |
| Drugs | 436 | 1.98 | 0.64 | 1,278 | 1.50 | 0.49 | 10,358 | 1.60 | 0.52 |
| Other Crime | 362 | 1.64 | 0.89 | 1,177 | 1.37 | 0.74 | 8,931 | 1.38 | 0.75 |
| Other Theft | 785 | 3.61 | 0.63 | 2,740 | 3.23 | 0.57 | 31,450 | 4.85 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 184 | 0.83 | 0.98 | 455 | 0.53 | 0.62 | 3,967 | 0.62 | 0.73 |
| Public Order | 1,412 | 6.46 | 1.11 | 4,119 | 4.84 | 0.83 | 36,669 | 5.63 | 0.97 |
| Robbery | 145 | 0.67 | 0.57 | 251 | 0.28 | 0.24 | 4,567 | 0.70 | 0.59 |
| Shoplifting | 1,456 | 6.68 | 0.94 | 3,993 | 4.67 | 0.65 | 37,365 | 5.76 | 0.81 |
| Theft From the Person | 114 | 0.53 | 0.34 | 257 | 0.30 | 0.19 | 2,043 | 0.33 | 0.21 |
| Vehicle Crime | 668 | 3.05 | 0.71 | 1,861 | 2.18 | 0.51 | 16,666 | 2.56 | 0.60 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 6,578 | 30.10 | 0.99 | 20,143 | 23.67 | 0.78 | 189,257 | 29.13 | 0.96 |
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Total Crime by Year
Swindon | Wiltshire | South West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 13,903 | 63.63 | 0.88 | 42,692 | 50.13 | 0.70 | 397,184 | 61.16 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 12,670 | 57.84 | 0.78 | 40,160 | 47.55 | 0.64 | 402,192 | 62.40 | 0.84 |
| 2024 | 13,059 | 59.77 | 0.79 | 39,726 | 47.38 | 0.63 | 357,420 | 55.92 | 0.74 |
| 2023 | 14,000 | 65.00 | 0.82 | 43,238 | 52.04 | 0.66 | 360,086 | 56.89 | 0.72 |
| 2022 | 12,784 | 59.40 | 0.77 | 40,909 | 49.54 | 0.64 | 351,958 | 56.19 | 0.73 |
| 2021 | 11,190 | 51.77 | 0.75 | 36,448 | 44.45 | 0.65 | 311,592 | 50.21 | 0.73 |
| 2020 | 13,489 | 62.64 | 0.84 | 42,231 | 52.03 | 0.70 | 343,342 | 55.68 | 0.75 |
| 2019 | 13,814 | 64.15 | 0.84 | 43,338 | 53.76 | 0.71 | 348,574 | 56.87 | 0.75 |
| 2018 | 15,321 | 71.56 | 1.01 | 43,435 | 54.04 | 0.76 | 340,408 | 55.87 | 0.79 |
| 2017 | 14,980 | 70.60 | 1.10 | 41,694 | 52.33 | 0.82 | 312,784 | 51.72 | 0.81 |
| 2016 | 4,178 | 19.80 | 1.04 | 12,700 | 16.02 | 0.84 | 92,229 | 15.29 | 0.80 |
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Comparing Swindon to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Swindon | 63.63 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 25% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 30% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 32% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 54% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 64% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 65% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 67% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 68% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 69% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 96% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
To download charts and tables, you must subscribed to CrimeRate Pro
You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Swindon's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Swindon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grove Garden Allotments | 7 | - | 4 | - | 19 | 9 |
| The Link Centre | 17 | 1 | 4 | - | 14 | 10 |
| Delta Tennis Centre | 4 | - | 5 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Sparcells | 2 | - | 1 | - | 10 | 4 |
| Brook Park | 11 | 2 | 9 | - | 33 | 11 |
| The Lawn | 51 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 116 | 49 |
| Greenbridge Road Allotments | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 5 |
| Coate Water Country Park | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 31 | 10 |
| Buckhurst Field | 27 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 19 |
| King George's Field | - | - | - | - | 4 | 0 |
| Penhill Park | 15 | 1 | 3 | - | 30 | 23 |
| Shaw Forest Park | 13 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 6 |
| Lydiard Country Park | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 7 | 6 |
| Shaw Ridge Linear Park | 32 | - | 16 | - | 44 | 44 |
| Grange Park | 3 | - | - | - | 7 | 3 |
| Toothill Park | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
| Moredon Sporting Hub | - | - | - | - | 2 | 5 |
| Cambria Recreation Ground | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 23 |
| Gorse Hill Allotments | 3 | - | - | - | 2 | 6 |
| Rushey Platt Allotments | 6 | - | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| Town Gardens | 6 | - | 1 | - | 17 | 3 |
| Somerford Close Allotments | 7 | - | - | - | 11 | 3 |
| Folly Park | 11 | - | 2 | 1 | 38 | 9 |
| Akers Way Allotments | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Cheney Manor Allotments | 5 | - | 1 | - | 7 | 1 |
| Mannington Recreation Ground | 3 | 1 | 5 | - | 1 | 11 |
| The Oasis Leisure Centre | 11 | 2 | 2 | - | 4 | 13 |
| The Park | 28 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 29 | 19 |
| Esprit Centre | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 3 |
| Swindon County Ground | 11 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 48 | 23 |
| Shrivenham Road Allotments | 9 | 1 | - | - | 27 | 10 |
| Hatton Grove Allotments | - | 2 | - | - | 3 | 1 |
| Dawlish Road Allotments | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | 17 | 7 |
| Mayenden Park | 23 | - | 6 | 4 | 31 | 113 |
| Quarry Wildlife Garden | - | - | - | - | 14 | 5 |
| Glenwood Close Allotments | 3 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| Queen's Park | 13 | 3 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 83 |
| Croft Sports Centre | 7 | 1 | - | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Monkton Close Allotments | 2 | - | - | - | 14 | 9 |
Recent Crimes in Swindon
The 20 most recent crime reports in Swindon.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near East Street | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Affleck Close | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Sackville Close | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Clinton Close | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Clinton Close | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Dunvant Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Shelley Street | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Clinton Close | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Brean Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Affleck Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Affleck Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shelley Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shelley Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near William Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Theatre/Concert Hall | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shelley Street |
Methodology & Data Sources
Swindon 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 Swindon 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.
Swindon Data Points
For Swindon, 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 E63004848.
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 Swindon's daytime - or "workday" - population of 143,789 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 Swindon