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 116.3 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, about 28% above the England and Wales average of 91.2. Nationally, its rate is the 55th highest of the 314 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
116.3 highest rate in the table, Stevenage

What this ranks. Crimes the police recorded, per 1,000 residents, in the 12 months to June 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 116.3 118.0 10,671 +10.3% 55 of 314
2 Watford Hertfordshire 110.4 114.4 11,828 +5.5% 71 of 314
3 Welwyn Hatfield Hertfordshire 97.4 95.0 11,960 -1.7% 110 of 314
4 Broxbourne Hertfordshire 95.1 104.4 9,688 +9.4% 116 of 314
5 Hertsmere Hertfordshire 88.9 89.2 9,796 -7.9% 137 of 314
6 Dacorum Hertfordshire 85.2 89.8 13,752 -4.2% 157 of 314
7 St Albans Hertfordshire 79.7 76.1 12,035 -0.1% 182 of 314
8 East Hertfordshire Hertfordshire 67.4 72.2 10,570 +1.3% 232 of 314
9 Three Rivers Hertfordshire 66.9 70.5 6,405 -0.2% 236 of 314
10 North Hertfordshire Hertfordshire 65.0 67.7 8,913 -5.8% 246 of 314

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 June 2026, the most recent month any force has published. Police data arrives roughly two months in arrears.