Crime in Boston district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (2,857), anti-social behaviour (1,652) and shoplifting (679) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 72nd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

Recorded crime in Boston district peaked in the year to August 2025 (8,053 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (6,540). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 19%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Boston district recorded notably more bicycle theft (2.3 times the national rate), anti-social behaviour (51% above the national rate) and other crime (36% above the national rate), and notably less vehicle crime (32% below) and drugs (32% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 63 to 83 and burglary rose from 268 to 334, while shoplifting fell from 979 to 679 and drugs fell from 206 to 159.

What each category covers: crime categories.

6,284 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Boston district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 88.4 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Boston district had the 84th highest rate (the street-level ranking above is among the 302 districts with street-level pages on this site, over the 12 months to August 2026).

No change on the year or longer series is given for Boston district: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Lincolnshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 1.7% in the year ending March 2025 to 0.1% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in Boston district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,042 offences (17% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for bicycle theft (2.6 times the national rate), arson (1.7 times the national rate) and shoplifting (1.5 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.21 times), trafficking of drugs (0.58 times) and vehicle offences (0.62 times).

Districts in the Lincolnshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 7 districts in the Lincolnshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Boston district had the 2nd highest rate.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables (released 23 July 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. Financial years, excluding fraud; how they differ from the street-level figures: methodology.

2 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Boston district; the highest is Lincoln district (158.9 per 1,000) and the lowest North Kesteven (54.8).

Of the 22 areas within Boston district, Station had the highest crime rate (338.0 per 1,000) and West the lowest (29.4), 11 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Boston district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (357).

Of the 6,135 crimes in Boston district with a recorded outcome, 31% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 6.3% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,652 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Boston district has an estimated population of 71,080 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more residents with no qualifications (28%, against 18%), fewer residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (19%, against 34%) and fewer students (5.0%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Boston district average decile 3.9 (1 = most deprived), more deprived than average.

Police-recorded crime from data.police.uk (September 2017 to August 2026), ONS population estimates and Census 2021. Definitions and limitations: methodology.