Crime in Sunderland district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (8,709), anti-social behaviour (4,944) and shoplifting (3,476) made up 61% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 106th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

The year to August 2026 had the least recorded crime in Sunderland district of any year here (28,197 crimes). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 35%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Sunderland district recorded notably more other crime (73% above the national rate), criminal damage and arson (48% above the national rate) and shoplifting (42% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (68% below) and bicycle theft (50% below). On the year before, theft from the person rose from 119 to 154, while drugs fell from 920 to 518 and other theft fell from 1,891 to 1,310.

What each category covers: crime categories.

27,007 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Sunderland district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 93.6 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Sunderland district had the 67th 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 Northumbria 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 Sunderland district is a slight undercount.

No change on the year or longer series is given for Sunderland district: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Northumbria Police area not assigned to a district moved from 0.3% in the year ending March 2025 to 1.4% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in Sunderland district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was shoplifting, with 3,667 offences (14% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (2.7 times the national rate), robbery of business property (2.0 times the national rate) and shoplifting (1.6 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.26 times), bicycle theft (0.49 times) and trafficking of drugs (0.62 times).

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

Of the 6 districts in the Northumbria Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Sunderland district had the 3rd highest 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.

5 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Sunderland district; the highest is Hartlepool district (163.6 per 1,000) and the lowest Northumberland (78.0).

Of the 35 areas within Sunderland district, Hendon had the highest crime rate (296.8 per 1,000) and Springwell the lowest (22.8), 13 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 17% of the crime recorded in Sunderland district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,135).

Of the 23,253 crimes in Sunderland district with a recorded outcome, 41% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 0.8% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 4,944 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Sunderland district has an estimated population of 288,606 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more social housing (27%, against 17%), more households without a car (31%, against 23%) and fewer residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (25%, against 34%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Sunderland district average decile 3.7 (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.