Kingston upon Thames vs Redbridge

Kingston upon Thames records less crime for its size than Redbridge: 86.7 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to July 2026, against 95.5. That is about 10% 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.

Kingston upon Thames 86.7 crimes per 1,000 residents, Greater London
Redbridge 95.5 crimes per 1,000 residents, Greater London

The England and Wales average is 91.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents. Kingston upon Thames is close to it. Redbridge is close to it.

Side by side

Recorded crime in Kingston upon Thames and Redbridge
  Kingston upon Thames Redbridge
Crimes per 1,000 residents 86.7 95.5
Offences in the year to July 2026 14,970 30,687
Residents 172,692 321,231
Change on the previous 12 months +1.2% +2.9%
Rank in England and Wales 148 of 306 114 of 306

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. Redbridge records about 1.6 times as much robbery, 1.5 times as much theft from the person and 1.4 times as much vehicle crime per resident.

Rate per 1,000 residents by offence
Offence, per 1,000 residents Kingston upon Thames Redbridge
Violence and sexual offences 24.4 29.6
Anti-social behaviour 19.0 19.2
Shoplifting 9.1 8.0
Vehicle crime 5.9 8.4
Other theft 5.5 6.4
Public order 5.3 5.0
Drugs 4.2 3.6
Criminal damage and arson 3.5 3.5
Burglary 2.9 3.6
Theft from the person 2.3 3.6
Robbery 1.4 2.3
Other crime 1.0 1.2
Bicycle theft 1.6 0.5
Possession of weapons 0.6 0.5
All recorded crime 86.7 95.5

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.

Kingston upon Thames Redbridge
3060901200Covid lockdown87 Kingston96 Redbridge2012201420162018202020222024Jul 2026
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 Kingston upon Thames safer than Redbridge?

Kingston upon Thames records less crime for its size than Redbridge: 86.7 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to July 2026, against 95.5. That is about 10% 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 Kingston upon Thames or Redbridge 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 July 2026. Police data is published roughly two months in arrears.