OpenCrime

The highest crime rates in Kent

Thanet has the highest recorded crime rate of the 13 local authority areas in Kent with a full year of published data; Dartford and Canterbury are next. Thanet recorded 116.2 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, about 27% above the England and Wales average of 91.2. Nationally, its rate is the 56th highest of the 314 ranked areas.

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

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 Kent

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 Thanet Kent 116.2 121.8 16,573 -3.8% 56 of 314
2 Dartford Kent 109.5 113.6 13,691 +1.2% 73 of 314
3 Canterbury Kent 109.3 110.6 17,724 +8.6% 74 of 314
4 Medway Kent 101.9 113.3 29,823 -4.2% 92 of 314
5 Swale Kent 100.0 108.0 15,839 -4.1% 99 of 314
6 Gravesham Kent 94.2 106.4 10,427 -11.8% 119 of 314
7 Maidstone Kent 87.5 94.5 16,430 -2.3% 143 of 314
8 Dover Kent 86.9 94.4 10,408 -5.2% 148 of 314
9 Folkestone and Hythe Kent 84.1 88.4 9,449 -0.6% 164 of 314
10 Ashford Kent 77.1 82.0 10,863 -1.6% 199 of 314
11 Tunbridge Wells Kent 67.7 68.0 8,097 +0.5% 231 of 314
12 Tonbridge and Malling Kent 66.8 68.4 9,141 +0.7% 237 of 314
13 Sevenoaks Kent 63.0 64.5 7,738 -2.6% 251 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.