Town · Cheshire East

Crime in Crewe

Crewe recorded 8,170 crimes in the 12 months to June 2026. That is 104.1 crimes per 1,000 residents, 14% above the England and Wales average of 91.2. Recorded crime is down 2.1% on the previous 12 months.

104.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents, year to June 2026
8,170 offences recorded in the same 12 months
-2.1% change on the previous 12 months
+14% above the England and Wales average

Of the 939 areas in England and Wales with a full year of data, Crewe has the 303rd highest recorded crime rate. That is higher than 68% of them. Within Cheshire East it has the highest rate of the 9.

England & Wales average, 91Crewe, 104
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents. The colours are used throughout this page: the further right, the further above the England and Wales average.

The safest and worst parts of Crewe

The safest part of Crewe is Crewe South West & Wistaston, with 42.0 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents, about 54% below the England and Wales average. At the other end, Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue recorded 244.2 per 1,000, roughly 2.7 times the national rate.

Neighbourhoods inside Crewe, by recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to June 2026, shaded against the England and Wales average. Names are the House of Commons Library's, which are chosen to be the ones local people use.

The map needs JavaScript. The same figures are in the table beside it.

Against the England & Wales average less than half below about average above more than double no usable data

Select a neighbourhood on the map or in the list; the other follows.

Neighbourhoods in Crewe by recorded crime rate
Neighbourhood Per 1,000 vs England & Wales Offences Year on year
Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue 244.2 more than double 2,078 +7.7%
Crewe Coppenhall & Underwood 117.2 above average 1,255 -1.6%
Crewe North West 111.0 about average 765 +23.8%
Crewe Gresty Road 107.9 about average 821 -11.1%
Crewe Mill Street & College 104.5 about average 750 -24.4%
Crewe Sydney & Gateway 103.5 about average 641 +24.5%
Crewe North East 81.9 about average 804 -13.3%
Wistaston Green 57.9 below average 372 -8.8%
Crewe Leighton 49.1 below average 316 -0.6%
Crewe South West & Wistaston 42.0 less than half 368 -15.4%

Neighbourhoods here are Middle Layer Super Output Areas of around 7,000 residents. Each figure is an average over the whole neighbourhood, and the ones holding a town centre run high wherever daily visitors outnumber residents. How the figures work explains why these areas are used rather than electoral wards.

By type of offence

Recorded offences in the 12 months to June 2026, with the change on the 12 months before.

Set against the national mix of offences, drugs stands out in Crewe: it makes up about 89% more of recorded crime here than it does nationally, with public order also over-represented. In the other direction, theft from the person, vehicle crime, and anti-social behaviour all make up well under their national share.

Recorded crime in Crewe by offence type
Offence Offences Per 1,000 Share Year on year
Violence and sexual offences 3,495 44.5 42.8% -3.1%
Public order 876 11.2 10.7% +2.3%
Anti-social behaviour 767 9.8 9.4% -1.5%
Shoplifting 605 7.7 7.4% -15.6%
Criminal damage and arson 567 7.2 6.9% -7.8%
Drugs 532 6.8 6.5% +52.9%
Other theft 480 6.1 5.9% +10.3%
Other crime 201 2.6 2.5% -16.3%
Burglary 200 2.6 2.5% -27.8%
Vehicle crime 182 2.3 2.2% +1.1%
Possession of weapons 106 1.4 1.3% +17.8%
Bicycle theft 88 1.1 1.1% -27.9%
Robbery 47 0.6 0.6% -9.6%
Theft from the person 24 0.3 0.3% 0.0%
All recorded crime 8,170 104.1 100% -2.1%

Home Office recorded crime, data.police.uk. Rates use ONS mid-2024 population estimates (78,512 residents). Categories are the Home Office crime types as published; they are not comparable with court or conviction figures.

What happened to those crimes

Police recorded 7,403 offences other than anti-social behaviour in Crewe in the year to June 2026. By the time this data was published, about 24% had been closed with no suspect identified and 38% closed because a prosecution was not possible or not pursued. Around 26% had led to a charge, caution or other formal action, and 12% were still open.

Even its weakest figure is ahead of the national one: for burglary, 7.5% of cases here ended in a charge or other formal action, against 5.9% across England and Wales.

Police outcomes in Crewe, latest 12 months
Outcome Share Offences
Closed: no suspect identified 1,801
Closed: prosecution not possible or not pursued 2,850
Charge, caution or other formal action 1,894
Still open or no outcome published yet 858

Outcomes describe where each investigation stood when the data was published, so recent offences are naturally still open and the closed shares will edge up as cases conclude. Anti-social behaviour is left out entirely: police record no outcomes for it, and counting it would quietly flatter every percentage here. "Formal action" spans charges, summonses, cautions, penalty notices and community resolutions.

Outcomes by offence in Crewe

The share of cases ending in a charge, caution or other formal action, against the same figure for England and Wales. Offences with fewer than 30 recorded cases here are left out: a percentage of twelve cases moves several points on one decision.

Formal action rate by offence in Crewe, against England and Wales
Offence Cases Charged or dealt with England & Wales Difference
Violence and sexual offences 3,495 21.0% 10.8% +10.2 pts
Public order 876 21.5% 12.2% +9.3 pts
Shoplifting 605 49.8% 25.6% +24.2 pts
Criminal damage and arson 567 15.7% 8.2% +7.5 pts
Drugs 532 73.7% 53.4% +20.3 pts
Other theft 480 6.2% 2.5% +3.7 pts
Other crime 201 25.9% 16.9% +9.0 pts
Burglary 200 7.5% 5.9% +1.6 pts
Vehicle crime 182 19.8% 2.8% +17.0 pts
Possession of weapons 106 41.5% 34.3% +7.2 pts
Bicycle theft 88 6.8% 2.6% +4.2 pts
Robbery 47 14.9% 9.8% +5.1 pts

"Charged or dealt with" counts every outcome that is a formal action: charged, summonsed, cautioned, penalty notice, community resolution. Anti-social behaviour is excluded from both columns because it carries no outcome by design. A low rate is not necessarily a failing of the force here: some offences are far harder to detect anywhere, which is why every row is shown against the national figure for the same offence rather than against the other rows.

Over time

Recorded crime in Crewe peaked at 10,451 offences in 2018; the latest 12 months, at 8,170, are about 22% below that peak. That works out at roughly 22 a day.

12-month average Each month
3006009001,2000Covid lockdown681ConConLabLabConConLabLab20112013201520172019202120232025Jun 2026
Offences recorded each month in Crewe, Dec 2010 to Jun 2026. The coloured strip is the party holding the office that oversees the force; each break in it is an election.
Monthly figures (187 months)
Monthly recorded crime in Crewe
MonthRecorded crimes
Jun 2026 850
May 2026 742
Apr 2026 726
Mar 2026 653
Feb 2026 584
Jan 2026 713
Dec 2025 577
Nov 2025 639
Oct 2025 606
Sep 2025 654
Aug 2025 722
Jul 2025 704
Jun 2025 738
May 2025 740
Apr 2025 673
Mar 2025 726
Feb 2025 599
Jan 2025 603
Dec 2024 652
Nov 2024 689
Oct 2024 684
Sep 2024 689
Aug 2024 740
Jul 2024 808
Jun 2024 773
May 2024 759
Apr 2024 717
Mar 2024 698
Feb 2024 617
Jan 2024 641
Dec 2023 605
Nov 2023 631
Oct 2023 641
Sep 2023 659
Aug 2023 741
Jul 2023 834
Jun 2023 755
May 2023 761
Apr 2023 762
Mar 2023 700
Feb 2023 722
Jan 2023 764
Dec 2022 662
Nov 2022 783
Oct 2022 809
Sep 2022 772
Aug 2022 856
Jul 2022 820
Jun 2022 766
May 2022 789
Apr 2022 748
Mar 2022 811
Feb 2022 661
Jan 2022 726
Dec 2021 686
Nov 2021 720
Oct 2021 841
Sep 2021 757
Aug 2021 740
Jul 2021 802
Jun 2021 816
May 2021 709
Apr 2021 861
Mar 2021 827
Feb 2021 821
Jan 2021 832
Dec 2020 794
Nov 2020 806
Oct 2020 802
Sep 2020 832
Aug 2020 854
Jul 2020 782
Jun 2020 793
May 2020 948
Apr 2020 917
Mar 2020 756
Feb 2020 739
Jan 2020 840
Dec 2019 855
Nov 2019 704
Oct 2019 895
Sep 2019 863
Aug 2019 864
Jul 2019 962
Jun 2019 877
May 2019 876
Apr 2019 964
Mar 2019 904
Feb 2019 766
Jan 2019 853
Dec 2018 799
Nov 2018 876
Oct 2018 939
Sep 2018 758
Aug 2018 786
Jul 2018 890
Jun 2018 859
May 2018 873
Apr 2018 897
Mar 2018 799
Feb 2018 896
Jan 2018 1,079
Dec 2017 929
Nov 2017 971
Oct 2017 1,025
Sep 2017 908
Aug 2017 995
Jul 2017 890
Jun 2017 785
May 2017 886
Apr 2017 872
Mar 2017 793
Feb 2017 635
Jan 2017 634
Dec 2016 623
Nov 2016 646
Oct 2016 797
Sep 2016 817
Aug 2016 799
Jul 2016 801
Jun 2016 707
May 2016 718
Apr 2016 653
Mar 2016 674
Feb 2016 730
Jan 2016 672
Dec 2015 733
Nov 2015 717
Oct 2015 844
Sep 2015 711
Aug 2015 833
Jul 2015 774
Jun 2015 744
May 2015 782
Apr 2015 737
Mar 2015 698
Feb 2015 633
Jan 2015 617
Dec 2014 662
Nov 2014 607
Oct 2014 681
Sep 2014 675
Aug 2014 738
Jul 2014 762
Jun 2014 687
May 2014 768
Apr 2014 750
Mar 2014 779
Feb 2014 669
Jan 2014 637
Dec 2013 639
Nov 2013 722
Oct 2013 771
Sep 2013 742
Aug 2013 851
Jul 2013 875
Jun 2013 822
May 2013 880
Apr 2013 776
Mar 2013 752
Feb 2013 740
Jan 2013 735
Dec 2012 726
Nov 2012 750
Oct 2012 859
Sep 2012 799
Aug 2012 938
Jul 2012 845
Jun 2012 809
May 2012 873
Apr 2012 729
Mar 2012 889
Feb 2012 730
Jan 2012 690
Dec 2011 680
Nov 2011 743
Oct 2011 857
Sep 2011 823
Aug 2011 832
Jul 2011 879
Jun 2011 869
May 2011 798
Apr 2011 855
Mar 2011 861
Feb 2011 477
Jan 2011 487
Dec 2010 367

Download every month as CSV, including which months each force filed.

Streets and the crime map

The named streets with the most recorded offences in the year to June 2026, beside every mapped location in Crewe.

These are not the most dangerous streets. The police snap every offence to the nearest point on a fixed list of anonymised map points, so one point collects everything recorded around a cluster of addresses. A street with a station, a row of pubs or a shopping parade on it gathers the crime of everyone passing through. A point has no resident population, so there is no rate here, only a count.

Streets in Crewe with the most recorded crime
Street Relative scale Offences
On or near White Avenue Crewe North West 153
On or near Newdigate Street Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue 140
On or near Eaton Street Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue 108
On or near Manchester Bridge Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue 76
On or near Sandon Street Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue 71
On or near Oxford Street Crewe Coppenhall & Underwood 63
On or near Herald Drive Crewe Sydney & Gateway 63
On or near Bessemer Way Crewe Coppenhall & Underwood 63
On or near Crewe Road Crewe South West & Wistaston 62
On or near Hewitt Street Crewe Gresty Road 61
On or near The Birches Crewe Gresty Road 60
On or near Elm Close Wistaston Green 59

How safe does Crewe feel?

No aggregate yet: ratings are shown once at least five people have answered, because an average of two opinions is one household wearing a statistic.

Rate it yourself, 1 (unsafe) to 5 (safe)

Anonymous, one rating per person per area; rate again to change yours. The aggregate on this page refreshes within a day. Perception is not a crime figure and is never mixed into one, and it answers a question the recorded data cannot: how the place feels to the people reading this page.

Compared with nearby areas

Area Relative scale Per 1,000 Offences
Crewe 104.1 8,170
Chester 110.3 9,108
Runcorn 96.9 5,424
Ellesmere Port 93.5 5,779
Widnes 90.5 5,259
Winsford 89.2 2,488
Macclesfield 81.8 3,807
Congleton 72.0 2,191

Against the rest of the country

In the national table, where 1st is the highest recorded crime rate, Crewe was 679th of 713 in December 2010 and is 303rd of 939 today. It has moved 376 places towards the top: recorded crime here has risen relative to the rest of the country.

1st23446970493920102026rank
Position in the national table of every area at this level, each month. First place is the highest recorded crime rate, so the line is drawn with first at the top: a line that climbs is a place moving up the table, not down it. A place can move without changing at all, because the rank is relative to everywhere else.

Time of year

Recorded crime here peaks in July, about 19% above its quietest month, February.

avgJFMAMJJASOND
Each calendar month against this area's own average month, across every complete year of data. Indexed rather than counted, so a long-term fall does not flatten the shape of the year underneath it.

Crime in context

What deprivation would predict

Across every English district, deprivation explains much of the difference in recorded crime rates. On that relationship alone, Crewe's level of deprivation would predict a rate of about 107 per 1,000. It records 104.1, close to what the pattern would suggest.

How tightly packed it is

2,605 people per square kilometre, across 30 km². England and Wales averages about 400 people per square kilometre. Density is the usual explanation for a high position in the national crime table: a rate divides the crime of everyone who passes through by the number who sleep there.

What a home costs

The median home sold in Crewe in 2025 went for £227,000, across 1,552 sales, up 7.6% on 2024.

Officers to record it

Cheshire Constabulary had 2,414 full-time equivalent officers as at 31 March 2026, 2.12 per 1,000 residents, below the England and Wales figure of 2.42. That is 25% above its low point of 1,925 in 2014. Recorded crime partly measures how much policing there is to record it, so a change in officer numbers moves the figures on this page even when nothing else does.

Officer numbers are full-time equivalents from the Home Office police workforce return, counted across the whole force area. Nothing in this section causes anything on this page: a correlation is not a cause.

Who oversees policing in Crewe

Policing in Crewe is overseen by the police and crime commissioner for Cheshire Constabulary. Dan Price (Labour) won that election in May 2024. Since that election, recorded crime here is broadly flat (the latest 12 months of data against the 12 months up to the election).

Councils in England and Wales have no policing powers. The police force covering an area is answerable to a directly elected commissioner, or to the combined authority mayor where that office has taken the role on. The coloured strip under the trend chart shows these terms against the crime line.

The change column reports what recorded crime did across each term, because it is the first thing a reader wants from this table. It is what happened, not what the officeholder caused: recorded crime moves with reporting rules, how a force records what is reported, national policy and a pandemic, and those effects are far larger than anything one commissioner does in four years. The terms spanning 2020 and 2021 in particular contain the lockdowns, which cut recorded crime everywhere and handed the following term the rebound.

Elections to the office overseeing policing in Crewe
Election Elected Party Office Crime over the term
May 2024 Dan Price Labour Police and Crime Commissioner -1.5%
May 2021 John Dwyer Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner -14.6%
May 2016 David Keane Labour Police and Crime Commissioner +10.3%
November 2012 John Dwyer Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner -8.2%

These are election results, not terms of office: commissioners resign, die and are disqualified mid-term, and by-elections between the scheduled polls are listed here only where one has been held. For who holds the office today, the force's own website is the authority. The last column compares recorded crime in the 12 months ending at the handover (or the latest data) with the 12 months ending at the election itself; where a monthly return is missing, the window slides by up to four months to the nearest complete one. A dash means the term ran under a year or no complete window exists near it.

Questions

Is Crewe safe?

In the year to June 2026, the recorded crime rate in Crewe was 104.1 per 1,000 residents. That is 14% higher than the England and Wales average. A recorded crime rate measures what the police recorded, across a whole town. It says nothing about any particular street, and areas with busy town centres, shopping areas or nightlife record more crime per resident because far more people are present than live there.

What are the worst areas of Crewe for crime?

Going by recorded crime rates in the year to June 2026, the highest are in Crewe Town & Victoria Avenue (244.2 per 1,000), Crewe Coppenhall & Underwood (117.2 per 1,000) and Crewe North West (111.0 per 1,000). The top of the list usually marks the town centre, where daily visitors outnumber residents many times over.

What are the safest areas of Crewe?

The lowest recorded crime rates in Crewe are in Crewe South West & Wistaston (42.0 per 1,000), Crewe Leighton (49.1 per 1,000) and Wistaston Green (57.9 per 1,000). Full figures for every neighbourhood are in the table above.

Is crime in Crewe going up or down?

In Crewe, the latest 12 months are 2.1% lower than the 12 before. Over the full series, recorded crime here peaked at 10,451 offences in 2018 and the current total is about 22% below it.

What is the most common crime in Crewe?

The most commonly recorded offence in Crewe is violence and sexual offences, with 3,495 offences in the 12 months to June 2026 (43% of all recorded crime). The next most common is public order, with 876.

Where does this come from?

Police recorded crime open data, published at data.police.uk by the Home Office under the Open Government Licence. It covers offences the police recorded, which is not the same as offences committed: crimes that are never reported never appear. Rates use ONS mid-2024 population estimates. How the figures work sets out the calculation, the reporting lag and every known gap.

Figures cover the 12 months to June 2026, the most recent month any force has published; police data arrives roughly two months in arrears.