The safest places to live in England and Wales
Ranked on recorded crime per 1,000 residents per year, calculated from every street-level crime the police published in the 12 months to June 2026 — 5,850,738 records — matched to postcode areas and divided by Census 2021 population. A rate matters more than a raw count: a city centre records more crime than a village because more people pass through it, not because it is more dangerous to live in.
NR15 (Norwich) tops the list on 26.1, with NR8 (Norwich) at number 50 on 36.5. 1,939 postcode areas met the thresholds for this ranking.
| # | Area | Crime /1k | Avg price | Schools Good+ | Liveability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NR15 Norwich | 26.1 | £333,736 | 75.0% | 68/100 |
| 2 | EX9 Budleigh Salterton | 26.9 | £430,972 | 100.0% | 61/100 |
| 3 | YO41 York | 27.5 | £388,778 | 100.0% | 63/100 |
| 4 | RG29 Hook | 28.1 | £639,142 | 100.0% | 64/100 |
| 5 | IP21 Diss | 28.3 | £359,283 | 100.0% | 71/100 |
| 6 | CW4 Crewe | 29.3 | £385,544 | 100.0% | 71/100 |
| 7 | DT2 Dorchester | 29.6 | £413,535 | 92.9% | 70/100 |
| 8 | IP29 Bury St. Edmunds | 29.6 | £440,760 | 100.0% | 66/100 |
| 9 | IP13 Woodbridge | 29.9 | £410,792 | 90.9% | 68/100 |
| 10 | NR16 Norwich | 30.1 | £361,251 | 75.0% | 67/100 |
| 11 | TN3 Tunbridge Wells | 30.1 | £803,171 | 100.0% | 63/100 |
| 12 | GU52 Fleet | 30.5 | £475,496 | 100.0% | 78/100 |
| 13 | SY6 Church Stretton | 30.5 | £444,281 | 100.0% | 56/100 |
| 14 | CW6 Tarporley | 31.0 | £459,962 | 87.5% | 74/100 |
| 15 | CA5 Carlisle | 31.1 | £273,767 | 100.0% | 69/100 |
| 16 | IP26 Thetford | 31.2 | £308,012 | 60.0% | 57/100 |
| 17 | PE31 King's Lynn | 31.3 | £394,183 | 100.0% | 67/100 |
| 18 | DT8 Beaminster | 31.6 | £373,150 | 80.0% | 65/100 |
| 19 | KT21 Ashtead | 32.9 | £677,472 | 75.0% | 67/100 |
| 20 | NE47 Hexham | 33.3 | £369,528 | 85.7% | 64/100 |
| 21 | BH18 Broadstone | 33.6 | £496,111 | 100.0% | 69/100 |
| 22 | BH31 Verwood | 33.7 | £388,409 | 100.0% | 70/100 |
| 23 | CH61 Wirral | 33.7 | £261,934 | 100.0% | 81/100 |
| 24 | DY14 Kidderminster | 33.8 | £550,867 | 66.7% | 59/100 |
| 25 | CH60 Wirral | 33.9 | £414,239 | 100.0% | 69/100 |
| 26 | IP9 Ipswich | 34.3 | £383,233 | 87.5% | 67/100 |
| 27 | BN44 Steyning | 34.4 | £444,383 | 75.0% | 69/100 |
| 28 | HR3 Hereford | 34.4 | £385,617 | 66.7% | 53/100 |
| 29 | PL20 Yelverton | 34.6 | £327,236 | 100.0% | 63/100 |
| 30 | NP8 Crickhowell | 34.9 | £383,755 | — | 51/100 |
| 31 | HP15 High Wycombe | 35.0 | £507,978 | 80.0% | 73/100 |
| 32 | HG3 Harrogate | 35.1 | £459,780 | 95.2% | 70/100 |
| 33 | SK12 Stockport | 35.1 | £392,556 | 83.3% | 63/100 |
| 34 | WR12 Broadway | 35.1 | £622,379 | 100.0% | 62/100 |
| 35 | NR10 Norwich | 35.3 | £304,673 | 100.0% | 72/100 |
| 36 | GU10 Farnham | 35.5 | £783,799 | 100.0% | 61/100 |
| 37 | ST20 Stafford | 35.6 | £306,980 | 66.7% | 57/100 |
| 38 | DL8 Bedale | 35.7 | £311,992 | 100.0% | 73/100 |
| 39 | WR7 Worcester | 35.7 | £460,524 | 100.0% | 67/100 |
| 40 | KT24 Leatherhead | 35.8 | £976,348 | 100.0% | 64/100 |
| 41 | TR2 Truro | 35.9 | £437,858 | 88.9% | 69/100 |
| 42 | B96 Redditch | 36.0 | £395,493 | 66.7% | 50/100 |
| 43 | CF71 Cowbridge | 36.0 | £483,732 | — | 70/100 |
| 44 | SY10 Oswestry | 36.0 | £297,702 | 100.0% | 62/100 |
| 45 | YO19 York | 36.0 | £373,219 | 83.3% | 64/100 |
| 46 | PE33 King's Lynn | 36.1 | £273,618 | 87.5% | 62/100 |
| 47 | GU33 Liss | 36.2 | £574,960 | 80.0% | 60/100 |
| 48 | NN13 Brackley | 36.2 | £382,367 | 87.5% | 69/100 |
| 49 | L16 Liverpool | 36.5 | £264,537 | 100.0% | 67/100 |
| 50 | NR8 Norwich | 36.5 | £276,550 | 87.5% | 77/100 |
How this ranking is built
Every figure is calculated from official data by postcode area — the outward code, the part of a postcode before the space. Sold prices are what buyers actually paid, as registered with HM Land Registry. Crime is street-level police data matched to postcode areas through the neighbourhoods inside them. School ratings are current Ofsted grades across 26,824 schools. Population, tenure and household figures come from the 2021 Census.
Areas with too few sales or residents to rank meaningfully are excluded, as are non-residential ones — business parks, airports and single-company campuses have sold prices but nobody lives in them. Where a figure is unknown the area is left out of that ranking rather than counted as zero. Areas policed by Greater Manchester Police are excluded entirely. GMP has not published street-level data to police.uk for the whole period, and including it would have shown Manchester as the safest place in England on the strength of a few stray British Transport Police records. Gloucestershire is excluded for the same reason from February 2026 onward.