OpenCrime

The highest crime rates in Lancashire

Blackpool has the highest recorded crime rate of the 14 local authority areas in Lancashire with a full year of published data; Burnley and Preston are next. Blackpool recorded 187.8 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, more than twice the England and Wales average of 91.2. Nationally, its rate is the 4th highest of the 314 ranked areas.

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

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 Lancashire

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 Blackpool Lancashire 187.8 189.4 27,081 -11.4% 4 of 314
2 Burnley Lancashire 141.6 147.8 14,053 +2.0% 17 of 314
3 Preston Lancashire 130.2 135.2 21,204 -7.3% 33 of 314
4 Hyndburn Lancashire 127.8 140.6 10,999 -4.6% 36 of 314
5 Blackburn with Darwen Lancashire 111.9 113.8 18,193 -6.1% 63 of 314
6 Lancaster Lancashire 97.6 100.8 14,156 -9.2% 109 of 314
7 Pendle Lancashire 95.4 103.6 9,519 -4.7% 115 of 314
8 Rossendale Lancashire 89.1 99.8 6,507 -6.8% 136 of 314
9 Chorley Lancashire 79.9 86.8 9,660 -2.4% 181 of 314
10 Wyre Lancashire 79.6 89.4 9,447 -6.2% 184 of 314
11 South Ribble Lancashire 78.4 81.9 9,098 -5.7% 195 of 314
12 Fylde Lancashire 75.0 76.7 6,407 -3.0% 206 of 314
13 West Lancashire Lancashire 63.4 65.9 7,733 -9.0% 250 of 314
14 Ribble Valley Lancashire 51.1 53.8 3,361 -4.2% 293 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.