Exeter leads Devon with 96 offences per 1,000 people

Exeter recorded the highest crime rate in devon last year, with 96 offences per 1,000 people, and the city also had the third-highest rate in the South West. Police in Exeter recorded 13,279 non-fraud crimes, leaving it above Torbay and Plymouth and well behind Bristol and Gloucester.

Exeter and the South West

The Home Office figures compare places of different sizes on a per-capita basis. Exeter had the highest crime rate in the Devon and Cornwall police force area last year, while Bristol recorded 130 offences per 1,000 people and Gloucester recorded 109.

Torbay followed Exeter in Devon with 93 offences per 1,000 residents, making it the South West’s fourth most dangerous place to live. Plymouth had 92 offences per 1,000 residents and the region’s fifth-highest rate. Crime fell by 5% in Torbay and by 4% in Plymouth since 2024, while crime in Exeter remained stable.

East and Mid Devon

East and Mid Devon was the safest place to live in Devon and the fourth safest in the South West, with 45 crimes per 1,000 residents. The gap between that figure and Exeter’s rate shows how uneven crime levels are across the county, even before the wider 2025 drop in recorded non-fraud crime across England and Wales.

That national measure fell by 2% in 2025 compared with the previous year, while burglary dropped by 11%, theft by 8% and homicide by 6%. Sexual offences rose by 5%, weapons possession rose by 6% and drug offences rose by 18%.

Devon Crime Rates

For readers in Exeter, the numbers point to a city that still sits at the top of Devon’s crime table even as some nearby areas improved. For those in East and Mid Devon, the latest figures place the district at the opposite end of the county ranking.