The highest crime rates in Merseyside
Liverpool has the highest recorded crime rate of the 5 local authority areas in Merseyside with a full year of published data; St. Helens and Knowsley are next. Liverpool recorded 135.3 offences per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to June 2026, about 48% above the England and Wales average of 91.2. Nationally, its rate is the 27th highest of the 314 ranked areas.
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 Merseyside
Highest recorded crime rate first. Rank 1 in the England and Wales column is the highest recorded rate in the country.
| # | Area | County | Relative rate | Per 1,000 | Per 1,000 workday | Offences | Year on year | Rank in E&W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | Merseyside | 135.3 | 135.6 | 68,882 | +0.8% | 27 of 314 | |
| 2 | St. Helens | Merseyside | 94.4 | 104.0 | 17,833 | -0.3% | 118 of 314 | |
| 3 | Knowsley | Merseyside | 93.0 | 97.4 | 15,114 | +0.7% | 123 of 314 | |
| 4 | Sefton | Merseyside | 84.4 | 90.9 | 24,170 | -0.4% | 161 of 314 | |
| 5 | Wirral | Merseyside | 79.6 | 86.0 | 26,177 | +2.6% | 183 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.
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Clwyd
- County Durham
- Cumbria
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dyfed
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Greater London
- Gwent
- Hampshire
- Hertfordshire
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Merseyside
- Mid Glamorgan
- Norfolk
- North Yorkshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Somerset
- South Yorkshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Tyne and Wear
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Worcestershire
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.
- Most violent areas in England and Wales
- Worst areas for anti-social behaviour
- Worst areas for shoplifting
- Worst areas for criminal damage and arson
- Worst areas for public order offences
- Worst areas for vehicle crime
- Worst areas for burglary
- Worst areas for drug offences
- Worst areas for theft from the person
- Worst areas for robbery
- Worst areas for possession of weapons
- Worst areas for bicycle theft
- Worst areas for other theft
Figures cover the 12 months to June 2026, the most recent month any force has published. Police data arrives roughly two months in arrears.