Sunday email
Crime

Crime in Chelmsford 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.

Share this
4,585crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+10%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Sandonlowest rate26.1 per 1,000 a year
50middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

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

Check your own street

See crime and everything else that’s changing right round your home. Free, no sign-in.

Most improved: Chelmer Village (-1%), Runwell (0%) and South Woodham Ferrers (8%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1MoulshamCM2 · 15,257 residents 223.6▲ 11%violence
2ChelmsfordCM1 · 71,927 residents 146▲ 10%violence
3BroomfieldCM1 · 4,046 residents 140.4▲ 14%violence
4RunwellSS11 · 8,731 residents 97.10%violence
5MelbourneCM1 · 17,391 residents 95.7▲ 15%violence
6WrittleCM1 · 16,940 residents 81.5▲ 10%violence
7Chelmer VillageCM2 · 9,067 residents 81.2▼ 1%violence
8Great BaddowCM2 · 10,082 residents 65.5▲ 17%violence
9BorehamCM3 · 3,973 residents 56.4▲ 8%violence
10South Woodham FerrersCM3 · 19,345 residents 56▲ 8%violence
11StockCM4 · 1,679 residents 50▼ 36%violence
12Great LeighsCM3 · 2,966 residents 48.6▲ 44%anti-social behaviour
13Little WalthamCM3 · 2,193 residents 45.6▲ 4%violence
14DanburyCM3 · 6,798 residents 45.3▼ 13%violence
15GalleywoodCM2 · 23,627 residents 45▲ 15%violence
16BicknacreCM3 · 2,278 residents 42.1▲ 33%violence
17SpringfieldCM1 · 14,716 residents 39.7▲ 18%violence
18East HanningfieldCM3 · 1,770 residents 38.4▲ 21%violence
19RettendonCM3 · 3,044 residents 35.5▼ 7%violence
20Little BaddowCM3 · 1,600 residents 30–violence
21Ramsden HeathCM11 · 2,332 residents 29.2▲ 21%violence
22SandonCM2 · 3,374 residents 26.1▲ 5%public order

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 Chelmsford have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Sandon, Ramsden Heath, Little Baddow, Rettendon and East Hanningfield.

Which areas of Chelmsford 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 Moulsham, Chelmsford, Broomfield, Runwell and Melbourne.

Is crime going up or down in Chelmsford?

Across Chelmsford, 4,585 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 10% 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.