Crime in Rugby district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,088), anti-social behaviour (1,968) and criminal damage and arson (628) made up 65% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 213th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Rugby district peaked in the year to August 2020 (10,245 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2024 (8,219). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 14%, 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 (87% below) and robbery (65% below) were well below it. On the year before, bicycle theft rose from 39 to 60 and other theft rose from 430 to 525, while drugs fell from 295 to 204 and other crime fell from 242 to 202.

What each category covers: crime categories.

6,742 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Rugby district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 55.1 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (6,718), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Rugby district had the 57th 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).

Offences recorded in Rugby district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,094 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 (0.09 times), robbery of personal property (0.35 times) and possession of drugs (0.41 times).

The largest rises on the year were in arson (+44%) and criminal damage (+40%). The largest falls were in trafficking of drugs (−43%) and residential burglary (−35%). 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 Rugby district 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. Rugby district'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 Warwickshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 3 districts in the Warwickshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Rugby district had the lowest rate. Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick are not in the table because the Home Office publishes each of them jointly with a neighbouring district, as one community safety partnership.

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.

4 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Rugby district; the highest is Nuneaton and Bedworth (107.9 per 1,000) and the lowest Harborough (51.7).

Of the 26 areas within Rugby district, Benn had the highest crime rate (138.0 per 1,000) and Leam Valley the lowest (25.2), 5 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 24% of the crime recorded in Rugby district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (488).

Of the 6,773 crimes in Rugby district with a recorded outcome, 31% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.9% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,968 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Rugby district has an estimated population of 122,378 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (15%, against 23%), fewer students (5.8%, against 7.9%) and less social housing (13%, against 17%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Rugby district average decile 6.9 (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.