The most dangerous - and safest - places in Greater Manchester

The city of Manchester is one of the country's most dangerous places to live throughout the UK, according to a new crime map.

Figures show that the 43 domestic police forces in England and Wales recorded more than five million non-fraud crimes in the year ending September 2024. That includes 329,257 crimes recorded by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

Each police force area is split into smaller community safety partnership areas, which broadly match local authority areas. Crime rates - the number of crimes in each area for every 1,000 people living there - allow for a fairer comparison of the threats to law and order in places with widely different population sizes.

They show that Manchester has the fifth highest crime rate in England and Wales, with 158 offences for every 1,000 people. That’s the equivalent of one crime report for every six people.

In Greater Manchester, Oldham, which is the 32nd most dangerous area of the country, is next with 115 crimes per 1,000 people, and then Salford (112), which is 37th. Rochdale also has 112 crimes per 1,000 people, with Bolton 108, Wigan 99 Bury 98 and Stockport 81.

Trafford is the safest area in Greater Manchester with a rate of 75 crimes per 1,000 population, or one crime for every 13 people, seeing ranked 157th in the national league table.

Westminster has the highest crime rate in England and Wales (434 offences per 1,000 people), followed by Camden (189). But outside London, only Middlesbrough (166 crimes per 1,000 people) has a higher crime rate than Manchester.

GMP say that recorded crime in the region was down by eight percent last year with almost 30,000 fewer incidents . Whilst they say they made 67,084 arrests, 3,545 more than the previous year.

Assistant Chief