Is YO21 a safe place to live?

YO21 scores 5 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 1.3 times the North Yorkshire average.

Is crime going up or down in YO21?

Down 3% over 5 years, from 882 recorded crimes a year to 855.

How does crime in YO21 compare with North Yorkshire?

Crime severity in YO21 is 1.3 times the North Yorkshire average.

YO21Postcode district

YO21 crime rate and crime map

Recorded crime in YO21 is 1.3 times the North Yorkshire average and 0.8 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 3%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.

Whitby, North Yorkshire. 13,445 residents in 9 neighbourhoods.

Safety in the UK: 5/10Average crime
Safety in the world: 7/10Low crime
Living: 5.5/10Fair
5-year change: −3%fewer crimes
vs the council: 1.3×the North Yorkshire average

Open on the map

Safety and Living

Safety

What it measures. How serious the crime recorded here is, not how much of it there is. Each recorded crime is weighted by the typical sentence for that kind of offence (the Office for National Statistics Crime Severity Score), so a robbery counts about 76 times a shoplifting offence. The total per resident is ranked against every neighbourhood. 10 means among the safest tenth.

Data. Street-level crime from data.police.uk, September 2016 to August 2026. Weights: ONS Crime Severity Score, year ending March 2025.

Anti-social behaviour is not a crime and has no weight, so it is left out of the score. It is shown on its own line.
The weights come from sentences in 2015-2019 and one weight covers a whole police.uk category: violence includes both minor assaults and rape, and the data does not say which. A town with more serious cases than the national mix is under-scored.
Some forces have missing months (Greater Manchester published nothing after June 2019). We use the months that exist and say so on the page.
A neighbourhood's score is blended with the neighbourhoods around it, because police.uk records each crime at an approximate location, often the middle of a street that sits on a boundary. Three quarters is its own rate, one quarter the average of the neighbourhoods it touches, weighted by residents. Crimes recorded on a map point within 30 m of a neighbourhood boundary are shared equally between the neighbourhoods on each side, because the point usually sits on the boundary road itself. Where the map shows a neighbourhood's score, its own score is shown as well when it differs.
Busy city and town centres are not scored: few people live there and many visit, so crime per resident would mislead.
It counts crimes that were reported and recorded, not every crime. In Scotland there is no Safety score yet; Living covers it.
On the map you can filter by crime type. The filter changes the crime figures, the Safety score and the map colours, and compares with the national figure for the same types.
Crime Rates Map is a guide, not advice. Visit the area before you decide.

Read the full method

Crime severity: 1.3× the North Yorkshire average (0.8× the England and Wales average)

Crime only, by how serious it is. Compared with every postcode district. Higher is safer.

Living

Based on schools, transport, health, supermarkets, weighted by importance. Crime is not part of it. Higher is better.

Neighbourhoods by Safety

Tested: 79% of scores were within 1 point of what happened next. How we test

1 = least safe, 10 = safest. Grey: no score. Select a neighbourhood to open it on the map.

Crime over 5 years

Down 3% in 5 years Recorded crimes in YO21, anti-social behaviour left out.

What is recorded

Crime severity: 1.3× the North Yorkshire average (0.8× the England and Wales average). 61 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.

Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 70% of the harm here
Burglary: 13% of the harm here
Drugs: 4% of the harm here

"Violence and sexual offences" is 70% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.

Anti-social behaviour: 32 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.

Shops, transport, schools and health

Distances are straight-line, not walking routes. Scores use fixed distance bands, so they do not depend on other districts. Higher is better.

Supermarkets

Fair accessScore 5 out of 10

Typical distance to a large supermarket: 1.9 km.
Co-op Whitby (The Co-operative Group), 8.1 km from the district centre
Sainsburys Whitby Superstore (Sainsburys), 9.7 km from the district centre
Asda Skelton Supermarket (Asda), 32.6 km from the district centre

Transport

Good accessScore 7 out of 10

Typical number of bus stops within 400 m: 5.
Nearest railway station: Sleights Rail Station, 3.3 km from the district centre
Nearest tram or metro stop: Goathland (North Yorkshire Moors Railway), 9.1 km from the district centre

Schools

Fair schools nearbyScore 5 out of 10

Primary schools within 2 km

Stakesby Primary Academy: Good (graded inspection, 2023), 160 m away
Danby Church of England Voluntary Aided School: Strong standard (report card, 2026), 220 m away
West Cliff Primary School: Good (graded inspection, 2022), 390 m away
Airy Hill Primary School: Good (ungraded inspection, 2022), 700 m away
Egton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School: Good (ungraded inspection, 2023), 1.3 km away

Secondary schools within 2 km

Whitby School: Requires improvement (graded inspection, 2023), 590 m away

Health

Fair accessScore 5 out of 10

Nearest GP surgery: SLEIGHTS AND SANDSEND MEDICAL PRACTICE, 4.2 km from the district centre, CQC rating: Outstanding, rated 2017
Nearest hospital with A&E: Scarborough Hospital, 35.4 km from the district centre

Crime by type

Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.

Type	Per 1,000 a year
Robbery	0.2
Burglary	3.4
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	29.1
Drugs	2.5
Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons)	0.6
Other crime	1.1
Other theft	5.2
Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching)	0.6
Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into)	2.5
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	7.7
Public order	4.7
Bicycle theft	0.3
Shoplifting	3.2

How often crimes lead to a charge

In YO21, 11% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).

Charged or summonsed
Caution or other action
Suspect found, not prosecuted
No suspect identified
Still open

Show as a table

Type	Crimes	Charged or summonsed	Caution or other action	Suspect found, not prosecuted	No suspect identified	Still open
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	459	8%	4%	67%	5%	16%
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	100	8%	6%	34%	44%	8%
Public order	78	17%	0%	68%	6%	9%
Shoplifting	76	21%	11%	9%	57%	3%
Other theft	60	5%	2%	32%	53%	8%

Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 13% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.

Trend over the years

Crime severity per resident (sentence-days of the crimes recorded each year). Hatched bars are years with fewer than twelve months of data for most residents.

Last 12 months: 13.2 against a 10-year average of 12.3, 8% higher.

Questions about crime in YO21

Is YO21 a safe place to live?: YO21 scores 5 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 1.3 times the North Yorkshire average.
Is crime going up or down in YO21?: Down 3% over 5 years, from 882 recorded crimes a year to 855.
What is the most common crime in YO21?: The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 29 per 1,000 residents a year.
How does crime in YO21 compare with North Yorkshire?: Crime severity in YO21 is 1.3 times the North Yorkshire average.
How often does crime lead to a charge in YO21?: In YO21, 11% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 20% were closed without a suspect being identified.

Towns

Whitby

Council: North Yorkshire