Recent Home Office statistics reveal that crime is increasing across Somerset, with certain areas facing significantly higher risks. A new crime map highlights the neighborhoods where residents are most vulnerable to becoming victims of criminal activity.
In the year ending March 2025, over 5.3 million non-fraud crimes were recorded by the 43 police forces across England and Wales. This marks a slight 2% decrease, with approximately 92,000 fewer crimes than the previous year.
However, Avon and Somerset area bucks this national trend. It reported 168,354 non-fraud crimes during the same period, a sharp 12% increase of around 18,000 incidents compared to the year before. Alongside Gloucestershire Constabulary, it recorded the highest proportional rise in crime among all forces in England and Wales.
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Breaking it down further, Somerset saw a 13% crime increase, North Somerset matched this 13% rise, and Bath and North East Somerset experienced a 16% jump. To assess the actual risk residents face, crime rates—measures of recorded crimes per 1,000 people—offer a standardized comparison across areas with varied population sizes.
The data shows that Bristol remains the most dangerous location in Avon and Somerset, with 132 crimes per 1,000 residents. Outside the city, North Somerset has the highest crime rate, registering 84 offences per 1,000 people, meaning roughly one in every 12 residents was a victim last year.
Crime rates in the remainder of Somerset (82 per 1,000 people) and Bath and North East Somerset (81 per 1,000 people) are slightly lower but still notable. An interactive map allows residents to explore specific crime rates in their localities, trends over time, and how their area compares nationally.
Complementing police data, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that individuals aged 16 and over experienced 9.4 million crime incidents in the year ending March 2025, up from 8.8 million the previous year. The increase is largely driven by a 31% surge in fraud cases, reaching 4.2 million incidents—the highest recorded since fraud began being tracked in 2016/17.
Despite this rise, the overall number of crime incidents remains 16% lower than the peak recorded in 2016/17, when 11.2 million incidents were reported. The ONS survey, based on in-person interviews, measures a broad spectrum of personal and household victimization—including theft, robbery, criminal damage, computer misuse, and violence—but excludes sexual offenses, stalking, harassment, and domestic abuse, which are reported separately.
Encouragingly, long-term trends indicate a decline in theft, criminal damage, and violent crimes since the mid-1990s, underscoring progress amid current challenges.