Crime in Southampton district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (12,709), shoplifting (3,985) and anti-social behaviour (3,902) made up 59% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 29th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest tenth.

Recorded crime in Southampton district peaked in the year to August 2022 (39,944 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (34,250). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 7%, in line with England and Wales.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Southampton district recorded notably more possession of weapons (85% above the national rate), shoplifting (82% above the national rate) and bicycle theft (74% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (43% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 315 to 540 and drugs rose from 1,183 to 1,444, while possession of weapons fell from 586 to 464 and theft from the person fell from 292 to 248.

What each category covers: crime categories.

31,147 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Southampton district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 120.1 per 1,000 residents, higher than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (31,373), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Southampton district had the 14th 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).

Of the crimes recorded in the Hampshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 2.2% 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 Southampton district is an undercount.

Offences recorded in Southampton district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 4,812 offences (15% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for robbery of business property (2.1 times the national rate), bicycle theft (2.0 times the national rate) and possession of drugs (2.0 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.56 times).

The largest rises on the year were in arson (+51%) and possession of drugs (+18%). The largest falls were in trafficking of drugs (−34%) and theft from the person (−21%). 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 Southampton district since the year ending March 2021

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2021 to 2026. Southampton district's rate was above the England and Wales rate in every one of those 6 years. The series starts in the year ending March 2021 because the share of crimes in the Hampshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 1.5% in the year ending March 2020 to 2.6% in the year ending March 2021, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

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

Of the 11 districts in the Hampshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Southampton district had the highest rate. Basingstoke and Deane, Hart and Rushmoor 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.

Southampton district has a higher crime rate than all 8 of its nearest districts.

Of the 18 areas within Southampton district, Banister & Polygon had the highest crime rate (278.8 per 1,000) and Bassett the lowest (63.4), 4 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Southampton district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (2,969).

Of the 30,786 crimes in Southampton district with a recorded outcome, 34% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 5.9% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 3,902 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Southampton district has an estimated population of 259,424 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more students (14.7%, against 7.9%), more private renting (29%, against 20%) and more social housing (22%, against 17%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Southampton district average decile 4.5 (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.