Kent Crime Statistics

In the last three years, there have been 448,109 recorded crimes in Kent. Kent Police attended 168,185 callouts in 2023, 162,285 in 2024, and 117,639 in 2025.

	2023	2024	2025
Total Number of Reported Crimes	168,185	162,285	117,639

Total Crimes by District

When analysing the three-year reported crime rate for each district within Kent, Medway came out on top with 77,455 reported crimes over the last three years. This is most likely due to Medway having the largest population, with 279,800 residents according to the 2022 census, 2.3 times larger than the next most populous district in Kent.

The district with the lowest number of reported crimes is Sevenoaks, which is particularly impressive given that the town has a higher population than Dartford, Dover, and Folkestone & Hythe, all of which rank above Sevenoaks in the table.

County	2023	2024	2025	TOTALS
Medway	29,348	27,845	20,262	77,455
Thanet	15,935	15,249	11,492	42,676
Maidstone	15,261	15,292	10,880	41,433
Canterbury	14,858	14,197	11,609	40,664
Swale	14,881	14,369	10,541	39,791
Dartford	11,986	12,128	9,098	33,212
Gravesham	10,584	11,145	6,956	28,685
Ashford	10,799	10,320	7,198	28,317
Dover	10,792	10,013	7,243	28,048
Folkstone & Hythe	8,979	8,690	6,431	24,100
Tonbridge & Malling	9,101	8,041	5,930	23,072
Tunbridge Wells	8,029	7,592	5,075	20,696
Sevenoaks	7,632	7,404	4,924	19,960

Districts with the Most Crimes per 100,000 Residents

When reviewing which districts have the highest number of reported crimes per 100,000 people, the table shifts slightly. Thanet comes out on top with 10,118 crimes per 100,000 people, followed by Dartford with 9,478 and Medway with 9,230.

The bottom three remain the same: Tunbridge Wells records 5,983 crimes per 100,000, Tonbridge & Malling records 5,817, and Sevenoaks remains at the foot of the table with 5,221 per 100,000, making it 1.8 times safer than Thanet.

County	Population	Per 100,000
Thanet	140,600	10,118
Dartford	116,800	9,478
Medway	279,730	9,230
Gravesham	106,900	8,944
Swale	151,700	8,743
Canterbury	157,400	8,612
Dover	116,400	8,032
Maidstone	175,800	7,856
Folkstone & Hythe	109,800	7,316
Ashford	132,700	7,113
Tunbridge Wells	115,300	5,983
Tonbridge & Malling	132,200	5,817
Sevenoaks	120,500	5,521

The Districts Where Crime is Declining the Most

Comparing reported crime figures for each district between 2024 and 2025, every area has seen a year-on-year decline. Gravesham recorded the steepest fall, with a 37.6% reduction in reported crimes. Sevenoaks came in second place with a 33.5% decline.

Canterbury saw the smallest reduction, with an 18.2% year-on-year decline in reported crimes.

County	2023	2024	2025	YoY Growth %
Gravesham	10,584	11,145	6,956	-37.6
Sevenoaks	7,632	7,404	4,924	-33.5
Tunbridge Wells	8,029	7,592	5,075	-33.2
Ashford	10,799	10,320	7,198	-30.3
Maidstone	15,261	15,292	10,880	-28.9
Dover	10,792	10,013	7,243	-27.7
Medway	29,348	27,845	20,262	-27.2
Swale	14,881	14,369	10,541	-26.6
Tonbridge & Malling	9,101	8,041	5,930	-26.3
Folkstone & Hythe	8,979	8,690	6,431	-26.0
Dartford	11,986	12,128	9,098	-25.0
Thanet	15,935	15,249	11,492	-24.6
Canterbury	14,858	14,197	11,609	-18.2

The Streets with the Highest Crime Rate

This data is sourced from CrimeRate, which links each crime report to coordinates to count incidents, rather than relying on street names alone. The street with the highest crime rate is Wharf Road in Gillingham. Within the top ten, there are two hospitals, two police stations, and one prison — locations where heightened emotions and the presence of offenders make elevated crime figures unsurprising.

Street	Crime Count
Wharf Road Gillingham	34
Hospital Ashford	31
Hospital Maidstone	30
Prison Eastchurch	26
Chase Square Gravesend	25
Petrol Station Chatham	23
Police Station Tonbridge	20
Hare Street Sheerness	20
Police Station Northfleet	19
Fox Hill Sittingbourne	18

Most Common Crimes Reported in Kent

Analysing the three-year totals for each crime type, violence against the person was the most frequently reported offence with 189,337 incidents — 2.23 times more than the next most common category, theft, which recorded 84,944 crimes.

The least common crime types were robbery at 3,085 incidents, possession of weapons at 4,713, and miscellaneous crimes at 15,319.

Offence group	2023	2024	2025	Total
Violence against the person	68,004	63,791	46,974	189,337
Theft	26,359	26,033	22,052	84,944
Arson and criminal damage	16,547	15,826	11,747	50,280
Public order offences	9,263	8,005	5,259	26,027
Vehicle offences	8,293	8,440	4,924	24,507
Sexual offences	5,477	5,549	3,812	17,840
Drug offences	4,979	5,394	3,905	16,245
Burglary	5,260	4,904	3,340	15,785
Miscellaneous crimes	5,105	4,945	3,040	15,319
Possession of weapons	1,611	1,775	1,269	4,713
Robbery	1,085	1,029	920	3,085

The Crime Types Declining Most Rapidly

Every offence group saw a reduction in reported incidents between 2024 and 2025. Vehicle offences recorded the sharpest decline, falling by 41.70% year-on-year. This may be linked to funding secured by the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner from the Department for Transport for Operation Voice, which focused enforcement activity on driving offences in Ashford, Chatham, Gillingham, Margate, Ramsgate, and Dover. A number of offenders arrested as part of the campaign had histories of other crimes, including violence against women and girls and drug driving, enabling repeat offenders to be dealt with more comprehensively.

Public order offences fell by 34.30% and burglary declined by 31.90% year-on-year.

Offence group	2023	2024	YoY Difference	2025	YoY Difference
Vehicle offences	8,293	8,440	1.80%	4,924	-41.70%
Miscellaneous crimes	5,105	4,945	-3.10%	3,040	-38.50%
Public order offences	9,263	8,005	-13.60%	5,259	-34.30%
Burglary	5,260	4,904	-6.80%	3,340	-31.90%
Sexual offences	5,477	5,549	1.30%	3,812	-31.30%
Possession of weapons	1,611	1,775	10.20%	1,269	-28.50%
Drug offences	4,979	5,394	8.30%	3,905	-27.60%
Violence against the person	68,004	63,791	-6.20%	46,974	-26.40%
Arson and criminal damage	16,547	15,826	-4.40%	11,747	-25.80%
Theft	26,359	26,033	-1.20%	22,052	-15.30%
Robbery	1,085	1,029	-5.20%	920	-10.60%

Speaking on the results, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner said:

“I am very pleased with the progress made over the period of my plan. This is tremendous news for the people of Kent. From antisocial behaviour to violent crime, the force has made considerable improvements, and I’m confident they will continue to do so. Call handling has also been transformed: in April 2021 we were ranked 27th in the country for 999 wait times — now we are the second best in the country.”

How Does Kent’s Crime Rate Compare with the Rest of the UK?

Comparing Kent’s average crime rate per 1,000 people over the last 12 months, Kent sits roughly in the middle of the table at position 80, with a crime rate of 81.9. This is more than double the rate of the Isles of Scilly and around half that of some of the highest-ranking areas, such as Middlesbrough.

Rank	Area	Crime Rate
1	Isles of Scilly	33.2
2	Monmouthshire	42.6
3	Dorset	44
4	Caerphilly	49.7
5	Wokingham	50.3
6	Rutland	50.9
7	Herefordshire, County of	52.4
8	North Yorkshire	54.8
9	Shropshire	55.3
10	Wiltshire	57.4
11	East Riding of Yorkshire	58.2
12	Richmond upon Thames	58.8
13	Isle of Anglesey	59.5
14	Suffolk	59.8
15	Torfaen	60
16	Devon	60.6
17	Flintshire	60.6
18	Central Bedfordshire	61.1
19	Windsor and Maidenhead	61.7
20	Buckinghamshire	62.7
21	Hampshire	63.1
22	Surrey	63.5
23	West Berkshire	63.7
24	Powys	63.9
25	Leicestershire	64.8
26	Sutton	65.2
27	Norfolk	65.7
28	Cornwall	66
29	Bexley	66.1
30	Bracknell Forest	66.4
31	Staffordshire	66.5
32	East Sussex	66.7
33	Merton	66.9
34	Gwynedd	67.1
35	Kingston upon Thames	67.2
36	Vale of Glamorgan	67.3
37	York	68.5
38	Blaenau Gwent	69.3
39	Cheshire East	69.4
40	Harrow	69.9
41	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	70.1
42	Ceredigion	70.4
43	Derbyshire	70.7
44	West Sussex	71
45	Westmorland and Furness	71.4
46	Worcestershire	72.2
47	Bromley	72.3
48	Oxfordshire	72.6
49	Warwickshire	72.9
50	Wirral	73.1
51	Warrington	73.3
52	Lincolnshire	73.3
53	Nottinghamshire	73.5
54	Isle of Wight	73.6
55	Hertfordshire	74.1
56	Carmarthenshire	74.6
57	Cheshire West and Chester	74.7
58	Northumberland	74.9
59	Barnet	75.1
60	Bath and North East Somerset	75.1
61	Lancashire	75.5
62	South Gloucestershire	75.7
63	Havering	76
64	Bridgend	76
65	Newport	76.2
66	Gloucestershire	76.5
67	Neath Port Talbot	76.7
68	Cambridgeshire	76.9
69	Essex	76.9
70	Conwy	78.2
71	Dudley	79.6
72	Cumberland	80
73	Sefton	80.1
74	North Somerset	80.3
75	Trafford	81
76	Redbridge	81.1
77	Rhondda Cynon Taf	81.3
78	North Northamptonshire	81.8
79	Swindon	81.9
80	Kent	81.9
81	Solihull	82
82	Swansea	82.1
83	Wandsworth	84
84	Halton	84.2
85	Somerset	84.2
86	North Tyneside	84.5
87	North Lincolnshire	84.7
88	West Northamptonshire	84.8
89	Waltham Forest	86
90	Pembrokeshire	86.1
91	Wrexham	87.7
92	Stockport	88
93	Enfield	88.2
94	Knowsley	90.8
95	Brighton and Hove	90.8
96	Gateshead	90.9
97	Croydon	91.5
98	Blackburn with Darwen	91.6
99	Denbighshire	92.4
100	Kirklees	93
101	St. Helens	93.3
102	Barnsley	93.3
103	Telford and Wrekin	93.5
104	Thurrock	93.7
105	Sheffield	94.9
106	Luton	95.6
107	Medway	96.2
108	Torbay	96.5
109	Rotherham	96.7
110	Coventry	96.7
111	Plymouth	96.8
112	Wigan	97
113	South Tyneside	97.1
114	Ealing	97.3
115	Walsall	97.5
116	Lewisham	98.5
117	County Durham	98.7
118	Sunderland	99.5
119	Southend-on-Sea	100.4
120	Merthyr Tydfil	102
121	Wolverhampton	102.1
122	Barking and Dagenham	102.2
123	Cardiff	103.1
124	Darlington	104.8
125	Bedford	104.8
126	Hounslow	106
127	Bury	107.1
128	Brent	107.2
129	Haringey	108.1
130	Calderdale	108.1
131	Sandwell	108.3
132	Portsmouth	108.5
133	Greenwich	108.9
134	Slough	109.5
135	Redcar and Cleveland	110.6
136	Hillingdon	112.1
137	Milton Keynes	114.1
138	Reading	115.8
139	Stockton-on-Tees	116.4
140	Hammersmith and Fulham	117.1
141	Newcastle upon Tyne	117.4
142	Tameside	118.6
143	Lambeth	119.1
144	Wakefield	119.5
145	Doncaster	120.4
146	Stoke on Trent	121
147	Derby	122.1
148	Hackney	123
149	Rochdale	125.3
150	Southampton	125.6
151	Bradford	126
152	Bolton	127.5
153	Birmingham	128.2
154	Salford	128.3
155	Oldham	128.4
156	Leeds	129
157	Peterborough	129.9
158	Islington	132.2
159	Bristol, City of	132.7
160	Southwark	132.9
161	Leicester	133.2
162	Nottingham	133.8
163	Newham	134.6
164	Liverpool	134.7
165	North East Lincolnshire	135.9
166	Kingston upon Hull, City of	141.4
167	Hartlepool	142.9
168	Kensington and Chelsea	145.7
169	Tower Hamlets	146.5
170	Camden	150.3
171	Blackpool	153.7
172	Middlesbrough	176.2
173	Manchester	196.1
174	Westminster	332.3
175	City of London	913