Crime in South Kesteven: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,867), anti-social behaviour (2,450) and shoplifting (1,010) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 199th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in South Kesteven peaked in the year to August 2020 (11,557 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (9,636). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 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 drugs (68% below) and robbery (59% below) were well below it. On the year before, robbery rose from 56 to 83 and burglary rose from 287 to 366, while drugs fell from 217 to 153 and bicycle theft fell from 68 to 56.

What each category covers: crime categories.

7,782 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in South Kesteven in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 52.9 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, South Kesteven had the 47th 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).

No change on the year or longer series is given for South Kesteven: 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 South Kesteven, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,226 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 robbery of business property (0.29 times), possession of drugs (0.31 times) and robbery of personal property (0.34 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, South Kesteven had the 2nd 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.

4 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than South Kesteven; the highest is Peterborough district (125.9 per 1,000) and the lowest Rutland (47.1).

Of the 52 areas within South Kesteven, Grantham St Wulfram's had the highest crime rate (230.4 per 1,000) and Baston the lowest (22.7), 10 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 18% of the crime recorded in South Kesteven over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (372).

Of the 8,555 crimes in South Kesteven with a recorded outcome, 34% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 5.0% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,450 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

South Kesteven has an estimated population of 147,151 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (4.7%, against 7.9%), fewer households without a car (15%, against 23%) and less social housing (12%, against 17%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up South Kesteven average decile 6.7 (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.