Locacity has analysed 12 months of official Police.uk crime data to rank the North West of England's major towns and cities by crime rate. The analysis covers 12 Built-Up Areas with a population of 75,000 or above, using ONS Census 2021 population data to calculate crimes per 1,000 residents. Greater Manchester is excluded from this analysis as Greater Manchester Police does not publish crime data through Police.uk.
Key Findings
Warrington
Safest major urban area in the North West
105.1
Regional average crimes per 1,000 residents
Blackpool
Highest crime rate in the North West
Rankings — Crimes per 1,000 Residents
| Rank | Area | Crimes per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warrington | 64.8 |
| 2 | Wallasey | 67.6 |
| 3 | Southport | 68.1 |
| 4 | Chester | 88.3 |
| 5 | Carlisle | 93.8 |
| 6 | St Helens | 100.6 |
| 7 | Birkenhead | 101 |
| 8 | Blackburn | 102.5 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 117.7 |
| 10 | Burnley | 129.9 |
| 11 | Preston | 157.2 |
| 12 | Blackpool | 169.8 |
Source: Locacity analysis of Police.uk data (April 2025 – March 2026) and ONS Census 2021 population estimates. Greater Manchester excluded — see methodology.
Analysis
Warrington emerged as the safest major urban area in the North West, recording 64.8 crimes per 1,000 residents — one of the lowest rates recorded in any Locacity regional analysis. Wallasey ranked second at 67.6 and Southport third at 68.1, with all three well below the regional average of 105.1.
Blackpool recorded the highest crime rate in the region at 169.8 crimes per 1,000 residents — more than double that of Warrington and one of the highest rates recorded across all Locacity regional analyses. Preston ranked second from bottom at 157.2, a notably high figure for a city of its size.
Liverpool, the region's largest city, ranked ninth at 117.7 crimes per 1,000 residents — above the regional average but significantly below Blackpool and Preston. The North West as a whole records a regional average of 105.1 crimes per 1,000 residents, placing it in the middle range nationally — above the South East (89.6) and South West (91.0) but below the North East (128.6) and Yorkshire and the Humber (120.2).
It should be noted that Greater Manchester — which includes major urban centres such as Manchester, Salford, Bolton and Stockport — is excluded from this analysis as Greater Manchester Police does not publish crime data through Police.uk. The figures therefore do not represent the full picture of the North West region.
The North West's regional average of 105.1 crimes per 1,000 residents (excluding Greater Manchester) is marginally above the national average of 101.5 crimes per 1,000 residents across all major urban areas in England and Wales analysed by Locacity.
The findings carry real implications for the property market. According to a Churchill Home Insurance survey, around 29,000 property sales fall through every year across England and Wales due to buyers’ concerns about local crime — representing an estimated £6.6 billion in lost property transactions annually. Understanding crime levels before committing to a purchase has never been more important.
However, these figures represent averages across entire urban areas. Crime levels can vary significantly from one street to the next within the same town or city — making street-level analysis essential for anyone making a property decision.
What this means for homebuyers and renters
Regional rankings provide a useful starting point, but they only tell part of the story. A Locacity report gives you a detailed, street-level picture of crime around a specific property — including the area immediately surrounding your home, nearby schools, transport hubs, and 999 police and ambulance response times.
Methodology
- • Analysis covers 12 Built-Up Areas (BUAs) in the North West with a population of 75,000 or above, as defined by the Office for National Statistics.
- • Greater Manchester Police (GMP) does not currently publish crime data through Police.uk. As a result, the following Built-Up Areas are excluded from this analysis: Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Wigan and Wythenshawe.
- • Crime data sourced from Police.uk open data service (April 2025 – March 2026).
- • Population data sourced from ONS Census 2021.
- • BUA boundaries sourced from ONS Built-Up Areas (December 2022) boundary data.
- • Crime coordinates in Police.uk data are approximated to the nearest street in accordance with Police.uk anonymisation policy; a small number of crimes near BUA boundaries may therefore be assigned to an adjacent area.