Crime in Mid Sussex: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,012), anti-social behaviour (2,496) and public order (818) made up 64% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 261st of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest quarter.

The year to August 2026 had the most recorded crime in Mid Sussex of any year here (9,839 crimes). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 15%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and theft from the person (88% below) and robbery (69% below) were well below it. On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 1,742 to 2,496 and drugs rose from 196 to 258, while possession of weapons fell from 124 to 94 and vehicle crime fell from 473 to 362.

What each category covers: crime categories.

7,280 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Mid Sussex in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 45.0 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 7% on the year ending March 2025 (7,836), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Mid Sussex had the 18th lowest 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).

Of the crimes recorded in the Sussex Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.8% were not assigned to a district. Those crimes are counted in the force and England and Wales totals but in no district, so the figure for Mid Sussex is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Mid Sussex, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,185 offences (16% of the total). No category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate. Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.12 times), robbery of personal property (0.24 times) and possession of drugs (0.30 times).

The largest rises on the year were in other sexual offences (+13%). The largest falls were in robbery of personal property (−36%) and arson (−25%). Robbery of business property and shoplifting are not compared with the year ending March 2025: from April 2025 the Home Office Counting Rules were clarified so that a theft from a shop in which violence is used or threatened against staff or anyone else is recorded as robbery of business property rather than shoplifting (ONS).

Recorded crime in Mid Sussex since the year ending March 2013

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2013 to 2026. Mid Sussex's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 14 years. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

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

Of the 13 districts in the Sussex Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Mid Sussex had the 3rd lowest 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.

6 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Mid Sussex; the highest is Crawley (129.6 per 1,000) and the lowest Wealden (54.6).

Of the 42 areas within Mid Sussex, Burgess Hill Meeds & Hammonds had the highest crime rate (121.2 per 1,000) and Scayne's Hill the lowest (21.1), 6 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 21% of the crime recorded in Mid Sussex over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (575).

Of the 7,343 crimes in Mid Sussex with a recorded outcome, 49% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 3.1% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,496 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Mid Sussex has an estimated population of 161,755 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (12%, against 23%), less social housing (11%, against 17%) and fewer residents with no qualifications (12%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Mid Sussex average decile 8.3 (1 = most deprived), less 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.