Crime in Warrington district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (7,319), public order (1,799) and anti-social behaviour (1,420) made up 66% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 200th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Warrington district peaked in the year to August 2018 (22,456 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (15,838). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 28%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Warrington district recorded notably more public order (25% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (89% below) and robbery (67% below). On the year before, public order rose from 1,531 to 1,799 and robbery rose from 83 to 96, while theft from the person fell from 84 to 40 and bicycle theft fell from 231 to 181.

What each category covers: crime categories.

15,156 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Warrington district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 70.4 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 (15,259), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Warrington district had the 122nd 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 Warrington district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was stalking and harassment, with 2,514 offences (17% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for possession of drugs (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.16 times), robbery of personal property (0.34 times) and robbery of business property (0.38 times).

The largest rises on the year were in possession of weapons (+27%) and trafficking of drugs (+23%). The largest falls were in miscellaneous crimes against society (−12%) and rape (−12%). 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 Warrington district since the year ending March 2019

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2019 to 2026. Warrington district's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 4 of those 8 years and below it in 4. The series starts in the year ending March 2019 because the share of crimes in the Cheshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 7.2% in the year ending March 2018 to 0.3% in the year ending March 2019, 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 Cheshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 4 districts in the Cheshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Warrington district had the 2nd 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 Warrington district; the highest is Liverpool district (136.2 per 1,000) and the lowest West Lancashire (61.8).

Of the 30 areas within Warrington district, Bewsey and Whitecross had the highest crime rate (284.8 per 1,000) and Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall the lowest (26.7), 11 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 18% of the crime recorded in Warrington district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (709).

Of the 14,640 crimes in Warrington district with a recorded outcome, 25% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.9% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,420 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Warrington district has an estimated population of 215,391 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (5.5%, against 7.9%), fewer households without a car (17%, against 23%) and less private renting (15%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Warrington district average decile 6.6 (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.