Three areas of Devon are among the most dangerous places to live in the South West, according to crime rates.
The latest Home Office figures show that recorded crime has continued to fall in England and Wales, with a 2% drop in all non-fraud crime in 2025 compared to the previous year.
That includes an 11% drop in burglary, 8% fall in theft, and a 6% decrease in homicide. However, some crime types went up, notably including sexual offences (by 5%), weapons possession (6%), and drug offences (18%).
The figures also reveal that some parts of the country are far more dangerous places to live than others.
Crime rates – calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the population size – are generally considered the fairest way of comparing crime in areas of wildly different sizes.
They show that the most crime-ravaged place to live in Devon is Exeter.
Last year, police in Exeter recorded 13,279 non-fraud crimes. That translates to a crime rate of 96 offences per 1,000 people living in the city, the highest in the Devon and Cornwall police force area and the third-highest in the South West, behind only Bristol (130) and Gloucester (109).
Torbay was the South West’s fourth most dangerous place to live last year, with a crime rate of 93 offences per 1,000 residents, despite a 5% drop in crime since 2024, and Plymouth had the region’s fifth-highest crime rate (92), despite a 4% fall. Crime in Exeter remained stable.
At the other end of the spectrum, East and Mid Devon is the safest place to live in Devon, and the fourth safest in the South West, with a low crime rate of just 45 crimes per 1,000 residents.
You can check the crime rate and see how it compares where you live using our interactive map.
