Crime in Lincoln
Recorded crime in Lincoln is 1.4 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 11%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
105,114 residents in 60 neighbourhoods. 2% live in busy town or city centres.
- Safety in the UK
- 2/10High crime
- Safety in the world
- 6/10Average crime
- Living
- 7.6/10Good
- 5-year change
- −11%fewer crimes
Crime over 5 years
Down 11% in 5 years Recorded crimes in Lincoln, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 1.4× the England and Wales average. 121 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 65% of the harm here
- Burglary: 12% of the harm here
- Robbery: 6% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 65% 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: 38 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
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 | 1.2 |
| Burglary | 5.7 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 46.7 |
| Drugs | 4.2 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 1.3 |
| Other crime | 2.7 |
| Other theft | 8.4 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.7 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 4.9 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 12.9 |
| Public order | 11.5 |
| Bicycle theft | 3.4 |
| Shoplifting | 17.7 |
What crimes are recorded in Lincoln
116.8 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded in Lincoln in 2025/26 (England and Wales: 83.2).
Our total for April 2025 to March 2026: 12,295. Home Office recorded crime: 12,281 (0% apart).
Crimes recorded by the police, April 2025 to March 2026. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 121 | 1.2 | Up 4% |
| Cars broken into | 169 | 1.6 | Up 25% |
| Vehicle tampering | 64 | 0.61 | Up 19% |
| Vandalism to homes | 246 | 2.3 | Down 11% |
| Vandalism to other buildings | 123 | 1.2 | Down 10% |
| Vandalism to vehicles | 287 | 2.7 | Down 7% |
| Arson | 95 | 0.90 | Up 2% |
| Burglary of homes | 150 | 1.4 | Down 23% |
| Burglary of businesses | 108 | 1.0 | Down 26% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 0 | - | - |
| Carrying a knife or blade | 58 | 0.55 | Up 4% |
| Carrying other weapons (including guns) | 54 | 0.51 | Up 20% |
| Robbery of people | 86 | 0.82 | Down 18% |
| Robbery of businesses | 83 | 0.79 | Up 124% |
| Violence with injury | 1,303 | 12.4 | Down 9% |
| Violence without injury | 2,014 | 19.2 | Down 14% |
| Stalking and harassment | 1,235 | 11.7 | Down 5% |
| Sexual offences | 625 | 5.9 | About the same |
| Shoplifting | 2,380 | 22.6 | Down 4% |
| Bicycle theft | 200 | 1.9 | Up 8% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 31 | 0.29 | Down 51% |
| Drug dealing | 90 | 0.86 | Down 9% |
| Drug possession | 177 | 1.7 | Down 14% |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare. These are council-area figures: police.uk street-level data, used for the map and the Safety score, only has the broad categories, and no source publishes murders or stabbings by street.
Lincolnshire Police area: 431 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in 2025/26 (404 the year before). This covers the whole police force area, not only Lincoln.
Source: Home Office, police recorded knife crime by police force.
Police and Crime Commissioner: Marc Jones (Lincolnshire) →
How often crimes lead to a charge
In Lincoln, 14% 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) | 5,526 | 7% | 4% | 72% | 14% | 3% |
| Shoplifting | 2,381 | 34% | 1% | 24% | 41% | 1% |
| Public order | 1,218 | 23% | 2% | 48% | 24% | 2% |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 1,213 | 5% | 4% | 33% | 57% | 1% |
| Other theft | 727 | 2% | 1% | 29% | 67% | 2% |
| Other crime | 385 | 9% | 3% | 63% | 17% | 9% |
| Burglary | 342 | 7% | 0% | 24% | 67% | 2% |
| Drugs | 303 | 20% | 15% | 47% | 6% | 12% |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 285 | 4% | 0% | 20% | 76% | 0% |
| Bicycle theft | 200 | 9% | 1% | 14% | 74% | 3% |
| Robbery | 141 | 15% | 1% | 45% | 37% | 1% |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 110 | 44% | 4% | 40% | 7% | 5% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 2% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
Lincoln, 2023 to 2025: 179 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 39 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 4 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
1.7 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 22% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Towns and cities in Lincoln
Postcode districts in Lincoln
Embed this on your site: a free live safety card for Lincoln.
Questions about crime in Lincoln
- Is Lincoln a safe place to live?
- Lincoln scores 2 out of 10 for safety (high crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Is crime going up or down in Lincoln?
- Down 11% over 5 years, from 14,483 recorded crimes a year to 12,914.
- What is the most common crime in Lincoln?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 47 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in Lincoln?
- In Lincoln, 14% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 31% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many burglaries are solved in Lincoln?
- Of 342 burglaries reported in Lincoln between September 2024 and August 2025, 7% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 67% were closed with no suspect identified.
- How many cars are stolen in Lincoln?
- In Lincoln, the police recorded 121 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 1.2 per 1,000 residents, up 4% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in Lincoln?
- 656 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in Lincoln in 2025/26, 6.2 per 1,000 residents, 1.3 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in Lincoln last year?
- No homicides (murder or manslaughter) were recorded in Lincoln in 2025/26, against 3 the year before.