Blackpool has been named the most dangerous place to live in the UK (Image: Getty)
A popular seaside town has moved up the rankings to become the most dangerous place to live in England and Wales – and you can use our map to see the crime rates where you live. The latest Home Office figures show that recorded crime has continued to fall in England and Wales, with a 2% drop in all non-fraud crime in 2025 compared to the previous year.
That includes an 11% drop in burglary, 8% fall in theft, and a 6% decrease in homicide. However, some crime types went up, notably including sexual offences (by 5%), weapons possession (6%), and drug offences (18%). The figures also reveal that some parts of the country are far more dangerous places to live than others.
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Crime rates – calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the population size – are generally considered the fairest way of comparing crime in areas of wildly different sizes.
They show that while the biggest cities, including Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester, suffer the highest volumes of offences, residents of smaller areas are often more likely to encounter crime.
And of more than 250 council areas in England and Wales outside London, the most crime-ravaged place to live, according to the figures, is Blackpool.
Last year, police in Blackpool recorded 21,437 non-fraud crimes. That translates to a crime rate of 149 offences per 1,000 people living in the town, the highest in England and Wales outside the capital.
A year ago, Blackpool was ranked second, but despite a 3% drop in crime in the last 12 months, it has overtaken Middlesbrough to move into first place, fuelled by particularly high rates of violent offences.
Blackpool tops the list (Image: Express)
Crime has fallen a fraction faster in Middlesbrough, which has slipped from the top spot last year, but the North Eastern town holds onto second place with a high crime rate of 147 crimes per 1,000 residents.
Manchester is third (143 per 1,000 residents), followed by Hartlepool (132), Bristol (130), Liverpool (124), Nottingham (122), and Southampton (120).
At the other end of the spectrum, Broadland in Norfolk is the safest place in England and Wales to live, with a low crime rate of just 35 per 1,000 residents.
It is followed by Waverley (37), Ribble Valley (38), North Kesteven (38), and Suffolk Coastal (39).
You can check the crime rate and see how it compares where you live using our interactive map.
Broadland in Norfolk (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson for Lancashire Constabulary said: “We remain committed to disrupting and preventing crime across Lancashire, including in Blackpool.
“We want to reassure anyone with concerns that we have dedicated teams across the town, covering a number of different aspects of policing, including community engagement, immediate response, and detectives. These officers will continue to conduct their duties and police Blackpool with the intent of keeping residents safe and reducing crime.”
A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: “Although Middlesbrough continues to have one of the highest crime rates per head of population in England, police leaders say the latest figures show that sustained, targeted action is delivering real progress.”
The force says neighbourhood policing, working closely with partners, new technology including drones deployed as first responders, and targeted initiatives such as a town centre crime crackdown, have delivered a 15% drop in crime since 2023.
The list of the most dangerous places excludes London, where extremely high numbers of tourists in central London make easy pickings for opportunistic criminals.
In Westminster, for example, a relatively low resident population combined with vast numbers of visitors results in a skewed crime rate of 380 offences per 1,000 residents, far higher than anywhere else in the country.
Excluding Westminster, Camden has the capital’s highest rate of 180 crimes per 1,000 residents, followed by Kensington and Chelsea (150).
Outside central London, Islington in North London has the highest crime rate (134), followed by Southwark in South London (122).