Penrith Labelled Third Most Dangerous Small Town in Cumbria

Penrith has been labelled 'the third most dangerous small town in Cumbria' by a crime data analyser site ‘CrimeRate’ and the 26th most dangerous place overall out of Cumbria's 279 towns, villages, and the counties one city. 

As of 2024, police crime data shows the crime rate in Penrith is 60% higher than the North West average and 0.24% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall average.

The overall crime rate in Penrith in 2023 represented 88 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Cumbria's overall crime rate, coming in 21% higher than the Cumbria rate of 72 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Penrith is the 293rd most dangerous small town.

In May 2024, Penrith had the worst crime rate in Cumbria for robbery, and October 2023 was also a bad month for Penrith, when it was Cumbria's most dangerous area for theft from the person.

The most common crimes in Penrith, according to CrimeRate, are violence and sexual offences, with 738 offences during 2023. Penrith's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 5 offences recorded in 2023, a decrease of 29% from 2022's figure of 7 crimes.

The most recent available police crime data for Penrith shows that 146 crimes were reported to Cumbria Police in June 2024

These crimes included 

Violence and sexual offences (45)

Shoplifting (22)

Anti-social behaviour (18) 

Public order (16)

Damage and arson (14)

Drugs (10)

Other theft (5) 

Vehicle crime (5)

Possession of weapons (3) 

Burglary (2)

Robbery (1) 

With other uncategorised crimes (5)

Whitehaven is the second most dangerous small town in Cumbria, and is the 21st most dangerous overall.

Maryport is the most dangerous small town in Cumbria, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall.

The crime data uses the Government definitions of a small towns as settlements with a population between 7,500 and 24,999. The 2021 census for Penrith, reported the town population as 16,984.

In comparison Kendal is the safest medium-sized town in Cumbria, and is the 46th most dangerous overall out of Cumbria's 279 towns, villages, and city.

Ulverston is the third safest small town in Cumbria, and is the 37th most dangerous overall out of Cumbria's 279 towns, villages, and city.

The crime data used is provided by police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often the middle of the nearest street. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime. This data is used by the crime rate comparision site and compared to other communities across Cumbria to give the local comparison rating and across the UK for the UK wide rating. The Penrith data covered the parish footprint of Penrith Town Council showing the crime rating for the Penrith Town Council area.

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