Gateshead vs Newcastle upon Tyne
Gateshead records less crime for its size than Newcastle upon Tyne: 98.3 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 120.9. That is about 23% 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. Gateshead is about 8% above it. Newcastle upon Tyne is about 33% above it.
Side by side
| Gateshead | Newcastle upon Tyne | |
|---|---|---|
| Crimes per 1,000 residents | 98.3 | 120.9 |
| Offences in the year to June 2026 | 19,931 | 38,770 |
| Residents | 202,760 | 320,605 |
| Change on the previous 12 months | -12.8% | -13.9% |
| Rank in England and Wales | 105 of 314 | 49 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. Newcastle upon Tyne records about 2.2 times as much theft from the person, 1.7 times as much drugs and 1.6 times as much possession of weapons per resident.
| Offence, per 1,000 residents | Gateshead | Newcastle upon Tyne |
|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 28.8 | 34.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | 19.1 | 24.3 |
| Shoplifting | 11.1 | 14.4 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 9.0 | 9.1 |
| Public order | 6.7 | 8.7 |
| Other theft | 5.8 | 7.2 |
| Vehicle crime | 4.8 | 5.9 |
| Burglary | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| Other crime | 3.7 | 3.3 |
| Drugs | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Robbery | 1.4 | 2.1 |
| Theft from the person | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Possession of weapons | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| All recorded crime | 98.3 | 120.9 |
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 Gateshead safer than Newcastle upon Tyne?
Gateshead records less crime for its size than Newcastle upon Tyne: 98.3 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 120.9. That is about 23% 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 Gateshead or Newcastle upon Tyne 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.