Is Durham a nice place to live?
Cathedral city on a peninsula above the Wear.
Police.uk data for 2026-06
252 crimes recorded
Within roughly a mile of Durham centre. Most common: Violence & sexual offences.
Category breakdown
Violence & sexual offences
69 (27%)
Shoplifting
56 (22%)
Anti-social behaviour
39 (15%)
Public order
28 (11%)
Criminal damage & arson
19 (8%)
Other crime
15 (6%)
Other theft
12 (5%)
Burglary
5 (2%)
Drugs
4 (2%)
Robbery
2 (1%)
Vehicle crime
2 (1%)
Possession of weapons
1 (0%)
What this data does and doesn't tell you
This is a count of crimes reported to police and recorded within roughly a mile of Durham's centre — it isn't a "safety score" and it doesn't capture things like community, schools, transport links or how an area actually feels to live in. Areas with more footfall (town centres, retail parks) often show higher raw counts simply because more people pass through them, not because they're more dangerous to live in. Use this alongside a proper visit, not instead of one.