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Crime

Crime in Canterbury by area

Every neighbourhood we cover, ranked by crimes per 1,000 residents a year, from police.uk figures for June to August 2026. Highest first. Pick a type of crime to re-rank, or tap a column to sort.

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4,739crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+6%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Bridgelowest rate20.5 per 1,000 a year
60.3middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

Darker means more crime per resident. Tap an area for its page.

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Most improved: Harbledown (-7%), Seasalter (-6%) and Swalecliffe (0%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1CanterburyCT1 · 55,421 residents 180.7▲ 3%violence
2SturryCT2 · 7,525 residents 179.1▲ 3%shoplifting
3FordwichCT2 · 12,478 residents 168▲ 12%violence
4HarbledownCT2 · 9,427 residents 126.9▼ 7%shoplifting
5Herne BayCT6 · 31,921 residents 105.3▲ 6%violence
6WhitstableCT5 · 24,372 residents 97.3▲ 6%violence
7TankertonCT5 · 26,522 residents 94.3▲ 6%violence
8Broad OakCT2 · 3,092 residents 84.1▲ 7%violence
9CharthamCT4 · 4,548 residents 83.6▼ 1%anti-social behaviour
10HersdenCT3 · 2,245 residents 82▲ 100%violence
11Shalmsford StreetCT4 · 4,548 residents 61.6▲ 15%anti-social behaviour
12WestbereCT2 · 1,592 residents 60.3▲ 71%violence
13SwalecliffeCT5 · 16,624 residents 58.50%violence
14HillboroughCT6 · 4,368 residents 54.9▲ 71%anti-social behaviour
15SeasalterCT5 · 8,113 residents 50.3▼ 6%violence
16ChestfieldCT5 · 8,152 residents 39.3▼ 27%violence
17LittlebourneCT3 · 2,931 residents 38.2▲ 40%violence
18HerneCT6 · 7,824 residents 36.3▲ 22%violence
19BroomfieldCT6 · 5,856 residents 36.2▼ 4%violence
20IckhamCT3 · 1,641 residents 24.4–violence
21WickhambreauxCT3 · 1,641 residents 21.9–violence
22Rough CommonCT2 · 8,650 residents 21.7▲ 38%violence
23BridgeCT4 · 2,726 residents 20.5–violence

Change compares the last three months with the three before. A dash means too few crimes to compare fairly.

Why busy centres look worst

Crimes are counted where they happen, but residents are counted where they live. Town centres and shopping areas have lots of shops, bars and visitors and not many residents, so their rates come out high even though most people there are just passing through.

How we work it out

Each area is a circle round its middle, the same as on its MeBabber page. We count the crimes police.uk records inside the circle over the last three months and turn that into a yearly figure, then divide by the number of people who live inside the circle, from the 2021 Census. Police locations are moved slightly on purpose to protect victims, so treat small differences between neighbouring areas with a pinch of salt.

Sources: data.police.uk and the Office for National Statistics, both under the Open Government Licence. Figures update every month.

Crime in every area

Questions people ask

Which areas of Canterbury have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Bridge, Rough Common, Wickhambreaux, Ickham and Broomfield.

Which areas of Canterbury have the highest crime?

Leaving aside the big shopping and industrial areas, where visitors and workers push the figures up, the highest rates over June to August 2026 were in Canterbury, Sturry, Fordwich, Harbledown and Herne Bay.

Is crime going up or down in Canterbury?

Across Canterbury, 4,739 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 6% more than the three months before.

How is crime per 1,000 residents worked out?

We count the crimes police.uk records inside each area, turn the last three months into a yearly figure, and divide by the number of people who live there from the 2021 Census.