Watford has Hertfordshire's second highest crime rate according to new Home Office figures.
Published last week, the statistics reveal a slight two per cent drop in non-fraud crime nationally, while also breaking down each local authority's crime rate per 1,000 people.
Watford has a crime rate of 87.1 per 1,000 people, with the total number of non-fraud crimes in 2025 standing at 9,336.
This is up by nine per cent from 12 months prior and is the 78th highest outside London and second in Hertfordshire, behind only Stevenage, which has a crime rate of 90.6.
By contrast, the county's safest area is North Hertfordshire, which has a crime rate of 50.1 and total crime of 6,879.
- Partial closure orders at two properties plagued by drug use and ASB
- Controlled explosion after child finds suspected bomb while playing with magnet
Nationally, police in Blackpool recorded 21,437 non-fraud crimes, with a crime rate of 149 offences per 1,000 people, the highest in the country.
At the other end of the spectrum, Broadland in Norfolk is statistically the safest place in England and Wales to live, with a low crime rate of just 35 per 1,000 residents.
The full list of statistics for Hertfordshire's local authorities is below:
- Watford - 78th with a 87.1 crime rate and 8,321 total crime
- Hertsmere - 118th with a 75.5 crime rate and 8,321 total crime
- Three Rivers - 228th with 52.1 crime rate and 4,996 total crime
- Dacorum - 146th with a 68.9 crime rate and 11,117 total crime
- East Hertfordshire - 230th with a 51.7 crime rate and 8,115 total crime
- Welwyn Hatfield - 101st with a 79.2 crime rate and 9,731 total crime
- St Albans - 161st with a 64.2 crime rate and 9,693 total crime
- Broxbourne - 137th with a 70.2 crime rate and 7,151 total crime
- Stevenage - 68th with a 90.6 crime rate and 8,318 total crime
- North Hertfordshire - 237th with a 50.1 crime rate and 6,879 total crime
