Braintree vs Chelmsford
Braintree records less crime for its size than Chelmsford: 60.7 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 81.3. That is about 34% more. Both figures are averages across a whole local authority, and neither area is uniform: the gap between neighbourhoods inside one of these places is usually wider than the gap between the two of them.
The England and Wales average is 91.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents. Braintree is about 33% below it. Chelmsford is about 11% below it.
Side by side
| Braintree | Chelmsford | |
|---|---|---|
| Crimes per 1,000 residents | 60.7 | 81.3 |
| Offences in the year to June 2026 | 9,980 | 15,347 |
| Residents | 164,304 | 188,803 |
| Change on the previous 12 months | -4.6% | +3.2% |
| Rank in England and Wales | 263 of 314 | 174 of 314 |
Rank 1 is the highest recorded rate. Both areas are local authority areas, so the two populations are counted the same way and the rates are directly comparable.
Offence by offence
The mix differs more than the totals do. Chelmsford records about 2.3 times as much shoplifting and 1.7 times as much drugs per resident.
| Offence, per 1,000 residents | Braintree | Chelmsford |
|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 27.3 | 34.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | 6.2 | 7.7 |
| Shoplifting | 3.7 | 8.5 |
| Other theft | 4.6 | 5.5 |
| Public order | 4.4 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 4.3 | 5.1 |
| Vehicle crime | 2.9 | 3.8 |
| Drugs | 2.3 | 3.9 |
| Burglary | 2.1 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Robbery | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| All recorded crime | 60.7 | 81.3 |
Both places since 2011
Each line is a rolling twelve-month rate per 1,000 residents, so seasonality is taken out and the two areas are on the same scale despite their different sizes.
Questions
Is Braintree safer than Chelmsford?
Braintree records less crime for its size than Chelmsford: 60.7 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 81.3. That is about 34% more. Both figures are averages across a whole local authority, and neither area is uniform: the gap between neighbourhoods inside one of these places is usually wider than the gap between the two of them.
What does this comparison not tell you?
Recorded crime counts what the police wrote down, so a place where people report more looks worse than a place where they report less, whatever actually happened. Both figures are averages across a whole local authority: a town with one busy centre and quiet suburbs carries a rate that describes neither. And the denominator is residents, so somewhere that fills up with commuters, students or shoppers by day records crime against a population it is not credited with. How the figures work sets all of this out.
Where else can I compare?
Pick any other two areas, or start from Braintree or Chelmsford and use the neighbouring areas listed on each. The ranked lists of the safest places and the highest crime rates cover all of them at once.
Figures cover the 12 months to June 2026. Police data is published roughly two months in arrears.