Overview of Dorset crime rate
Essential tools against vehicle theft.
Dorset, characterized by a low crime rating, is ranked 21st among 25 nearby boroughs in terms of crime rates, with 23,188 reported incidents in 2023 for a population of 379,579. This translates to a crime rate of 61.09 per 1,000 residents, indicating a 1.78% reduction from the previous year.
In Dorset, the most frequent crime categories are Violence and sexual offences (36.0%), Anti-social behaviour (24.0%), and Criminal damage and arson (9.2%), with the rarest being Possession of weapons (0.6%), Robbery (0.5%), and Theft from the person (0.3%).
Dorset is divided into 52 wards, with the highest crime rates reported in Melcombe Regis (477.8), Dorchester West (125.3), and Westham (97.3), while the safest wards are Corfe Mullen (27.4), Eggardon (26.2), and Cranborne Chase (22.2).
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In Dorset, there was a notable increase in Anti-social behaviour by 7.67% in 2020. However, this trend was followed by consistent decreases in the following years, with reductions of 5.31% in 2021, 4.2% in 2022, and 2.19% in 2023.
Dorset crime incidents by crime type
A total of 23188 crime incidents were reported in 2023. Below is the breakdown by crime type.
- Violence and sexual offences – 8357 (36.0)%
- Anti-social behaviour – 5573 (24.0)%
- Criminal damage and arson – 2134 (9.2)%
- Other theft – 1637 (7.1)%
- Public order – 1472 (6.3)%
- Shoplifting – 1262 (5.4)%
- Burglary – 914 (3.9)%
- Vehicle crime – 862 (3.7)%
- Drugs – 290 (1.3)%
- Other crime – 209 (0.9)%
- Bicycle theft – 149 (0.6)%
- Possession of weapons – 137 (0.6)%
- Robbery – 113 (0.5)%
- Theft from the person – 79 (0.3)%
How does Dorset compare against nearby areas ?
Dorset ranks 21st when compared against 25 nearby boroughs/local administrative districts.
List of nearby boroughs/local administrative districts from high crime rate to low (2023):
Heat map for all nearby areas Dorset is compared against
Crime rates in Dorset wards
There are 52 wards within Dorset. Melcombe Regis, Dorchester West, Westham has highest crime rate (crime per 1000 residents). Below map shows 2023 crime rates broken down by crime types.
get-ward-map/dorset/
List of all 52 wards from high crime rate to low.
- Melcombe Regis (477.8)
- Dorchester West (125.3)
- Westham (97.3)
- Wimborne Minster (90.5)
- Swanage (82.1)
- Dorchester Poundbury (78.3)
- Shaftesbury Town (76.8)
- Portland (Dorset) (75.4)
- Radipole (75.0)
- Chickerell (73.3)
- Blandford (70.1)
- Bridport (69.9)
- Rodwell & Wyke (67.2)
- Wareham (64.6)
- Littlemoor & Preston (62.6)
- Lyme & Charmouth (61.4)
- West Purbeck (60.8)
- Winterborne North (60.5)
- Gillingham (59.6)
- Ferndown North (56.7)
- Dorchester East (56.4)
- South East Purbeck (52.5)
- Ferndown South (51.1)
- Crossways (50.9)
- Sherborne West (50.4)
- Lytchett Matravers & Upton (50.2)
- Sturminster Newton (48.8)
- Charminster St Mary’s (48.8)
- Upwey & Broadwey (47.2)
- Sherborne East (46.0)
- West Moors & Three Legged Cross (44.6)
- Verwood (43.2)
- Sherborne Rural (42.6)
- Cranborne & Alderholt (41.8)
- Beacon (Dorset) (41.0)
- Blackmore Vale (40.6)
- Chesil Bank (39.9)
- West Parley (39.1)
- Beaminster (38.3)
- St Leonards & St Ives (36.1)
- Yetminster (34.4)
- Chalk Valleys (33.4)
- Winterborne & Broadmayne (33.1)
- Stour & Allen Vale (33.0)
- Puddletown & Lower Winterborne (29.0)
- Marshwood Vale (28.9)
- Hill Forts & Upper Tarrants (28.7)
- Stalbridge & Marnhull (28.5)
- Colehill & Wimborne Minster East (27.6)
- Corfe Mullen (27.4)
- Eggardon (26.2)
- Cranborne Chase (22.2)
Analyze trends and crime types for Dorset wards
Crime rates in postcode districts under Dorset
There are 32 postcode districts/outcodes under or overlapping with Dorset. Highest crime rates in DT4, BH15, BA21 .
- DT4 – 122.5
- BH15 – 121.6
- BA21 – 92.8
- DT1 – 88.5
- BH16 – 80.8
- BH19 – 79.7
- BH31 – 77.6
- DT5 – 76.4
- BH13 – 70.6
- TA20 – 69.4
- BH23 – 64.0
- SP8 – 63.9
- SP7 – 62.6
- DT3 – 60.4
- SP6 – 59.6
- BH20 – 58.8
- BH24 – 58.7
- DT6 – 58.3
- TA18 – 50.4
- DT7 – 49.4
- BH22 – 48.0
- DT11 – 46.2
- BA22 – 41.6
- DT2 – 39.0
- DT9 – 39.0
- BA8 – 38.8
- BH21 – 36.4
- DT10 – 36.2
- SP5 – 35.8
- DT8 – 32.6
- BH18 – 28.0
- EX13 – 0.7
Postcode districts in Dorset
For postcode level details drill down the postcode districts or visit Postcode Search