Crime in St Albans district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,458), anti-social behaviour (2,340) and other theft (1,362) made up 60% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 184th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in St Albans district peaked in the year to August 2018 (12,712 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2022 (10,378). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 6%, in line with England and Wales.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, St Albans district recorded notably more other theft (40% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (62% below) and robbery (59% below). On the year before, drugs rose from 212 to 354 and other crime rose from 171 to 218, while robbery fell from 114 to 85 and shoplifting fell from 1,441 to 1,223.

What each category covers: crime categories.

9,700 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in St Albans district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 64.2 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was up 5% on the year ending March 2025 (9,270), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, St Albans district had the 98th 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 Hertfordshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.4% 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 St Albans district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in St Albans district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,360 offences (14% 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 personal property (0.34 times), arson (0.35 times) and theft from the person (0.37 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (from 25 to 79) and possession of drugs (+50%). The largest falls were in robbery of personal property (−33%) and arson (−23%). 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 St Albans 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. St Albans 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 Hertfordshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 10 districts in the Hertfordshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, St Albans district had the 4th 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.

7 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than St Albans district; the highest is Stevenage district (118.8 per 1,000) and the lowest Three Rivers (67.7).

Of the 29 areas within St Albans district, Park Street and Frogmore had the highest crime rate (228.0 per 1,000) and Harpenden South the lowest (27.5), 8 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 26% of the crime recorded in St Albans district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Petrol Station” (649).

Of the 9,603 crimes in St Albans district with a recorded outcome, 45% 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 2,340 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

St Albans district has an estimated population of 151,012 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (53%, against 34%), fewer households without a car (13%, against 23%) and fewer residents with no qualifications (10%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up St Albans district average decile 8.4 (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.