OpenCrime

The highest crime rates in Hertfordshire

Stevenage has the highest recorded crime rate of the 10 local authority areas in Hertfordshire with a full year of published data; Watford and Welwyn Hatfield are next. Stevenage recorded 117.4 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to July 2026, about 29% above the England and Wales average of 91.2. Nationally, its rate is the 52nd highest of the 306 ranked areas.

10 areas ranked, every one with a full year of published data
91.2 England and Wales average, crimes per 1,000 residents
117.4 highest rate in the table, Stevenage

What this ranks. Crimes the police recorded, per 1,000 residents, in the 12 months to July 2026. It is not a measure of how much crime happened: somewhere people report more looks worse than somewhere people report less. Town centres carry the crime of everyone who visits them against the population of the few who live there, which is why compact city districts sit near the top and rural districts near the bottom. Areas whose police force has stopped filing returns are left out entirely rather than shown as safe. How the figures work sets all of it out.

Every area in Hertfordshire

Highest recorded crime rate first. Rank 1 in the England and Wales column is the highest recorded rate in the country.

# Area County Per 1,000 Per 1,000 workday Offences Year on year Rank in E&W
1 Stevenage Hertfordshire 117.4 119.1 10,776 +9.7% 52 of 306
2 Watford Hertfordshire 110.4 114.4 11,830 +3.8% 70 of 306
3 Welwyn Hatfield Hertfordshire 97.6 95.3 11,992 -2.9% 108 of 306
4 Broxbourne Hertfordshire 93.8 103.0 9,560 +6.2% 120 of 306
5 Hertsmere Hertfordshire 88.8 89.2 9,789 -9.1% 135 of 306
6 Dacorum Hertfordshire 84.5 89.1 13,646 -6.3% 163 of 306
7 St Albans Hertfordshire 79.2 75.7 11,959 -1.3% 186 of 306
8 East Hertfordshire Hertfordshire 68.1 72.9 10,684 +2.8% 229 of 306
9 Three Rivers Hertfordshire 67.1 70.8 6,432 -0.1% 234 of 306
10 North Hertfordshire Hertfordshire 65.7 68.4 9,015 -3.6% 239 of 306

Home Office recorded crime, published at data.police.uk under the Open Government Licence. The ranking uses ONS mid-year resident estimates, which is what the rest of the field publishes. The second column divides the same crimes by the Census 2021 workday population, everyone who is in the area during the working day rather than only those who sleep there. Where the two disagree sharply the place is a town centre, and the workday figure is the fairer one. Census day fell under Covid restrictions with widespread home working, so central London workday counts are lower than a normal year. Rank 1 in the England and Wales column is the highest recorded resident rate in the country.

The other end of the table

This table runs from the highest rate. For the same areas ranked the other way, see the safest places to live. To put two specific places side by side, use the comparison tool.

Highest crime rates by county

The same table cut to one county, for counties with at least three published areas.

Ranked by a single offence

The same areas over the same year, ranked one offence at a time. The order changes a great deal between them: shoplifting concentrates where the shops are, bicycle theft where the bicycles are, and neither follows the overall rate.

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