Halton vs Warrington

Warrington records less crime for its size than Halton: 75.4 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 90.1. That is about 19% 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.

Halton 90.1 crimes per 1,000 residents, Cheshire
Warrington 75.4 crimes per 1,000 residents, Cheshire

The England and Wales average is 91.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents. Halton is close to it. Warrington is about 17% below it.

Side by side

Recorded crime in Halton and Warrington
  Halton Warrington
Crimes per 1,000 residents 90.1 75.4
Offences in the year to June 2026 11,852 16,242
Residents 131,543 215,391
Change on the previous 12 months -8.1% +2.1%
Rank in England and Wales 133 of 314 205 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. Halton records about 1.5 times as much possession of weapons and 1.5 times as much anti-social behaviour per resident. Warrington records about 1.5 times as much bicycle theft per resident.

Rate per 1,000 residents by offence
Offence, per 1,000 residents Halton Warrington
Violence and sexual offences 40.8 34.4
Public order 9.9 8.1
Anti-social behaviour 9.4 6.4
Criminal damage and arson 6.2 4.7
Other theft 5.0 4.6
Drugs 4.9 3.8
Shoplifting 3.9 4.2
Vehicle crime 2.5 2.7
Burglary 2.4 2.3
Other crime 2.4 1.8
Possession of weapons 1.1 0.7
Bicycle theft 0.6 0.9
Robbery 0.6 0.4
Theft from the person 0.4 0.4
All recorded crime 90.1 75.4

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.

Halton Warrington
40801201600Covid lockdown90 Halton75 Warrington20122014201620182020202220242026
A line breaks wherever the twelve months behind it include a return the force never filed, because a twelve-month total missing three of its months is not a total.

Questions

Is Halton safer than Warrington?

Warrington records less crime for its size than Halton: 75.4 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, against 90.1. That is about 19% 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 Halton or Warrington 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.