Recorded crime
Oldham recorded crime
Offences police recorded across the Oldham area in the 12 months to March 2026, and the rate for every 1,000 residents. Official figures.
Offences per 1,000 residents
106.6
84.7 for England and Wales. 26,827 offences in the 12 months to March 2026.
- Offences
- 26,827
- England and Wales
- 84.7 per 1,000
Official figures: Home Office police recorded crime, published by the ONS
Summary
Recorded crime in Oldham: police recorded 26,827 offences (excluding fraud) in the Oldham area in the 12 months to March 2026, which is 106.6 for every 1,000 residents. For England and Wales as a whole it is 84.7 per 1,000. The largest group was violence against the person, at 45% of the offences recorded. These are Home Office figures for the whole local authority area, not for a postcode district, and a city centre with few residents and many visitors reads high because the rate divides by residents only.
Data from Home Office police recorded crime, published by the ONS, the 12 months to March 2026 (Year ending March 2026 edition).
Read this first
This page uses official Home Office figures for the whole Oldham area, not a postcode-district table. The police's street-level feed (data.police.uk) holds only 4 records across 5 Oldham districts for July 2026, because it carries only a small part of what the Greater Manchester force area recorded. A table built on that would show a gap in the data, not a quiet city, so we do not show it.
The figures below are a count and a rate for a 12-month period across a whole local authority. They say nothing about one street, and they cannot be added to or compared with the street-level data used for other cities.
Our take · opinion, not advice
Our take on Oldham recorded crime: a whole-area rate, so check the street
The street-level police data holds too few Oldham records to read, so this page uses the Home Office count instead: 26,827 offences in the 12 months to March 2026, or 106.6 per 1,000 residents, against 84.7 for England and Wales.
For sellers, a rate for the whole area tells a buyer little about one road, so be ready to explain that and to describe your own street honestly, including what is good about it.
Sell houseWhen buying, read the figure as the backdrop for Oldham and no more; violence against the person was 45% of the offences, which may or may not be what happens near the street you are weighing.
Our checklist: see the street on a weekday evening and a weekend, read the police’s street-level map for the postcode, and ask your conveyancer what the seller has to tell you.
To see crime in context for one address, run it through the free OfferCheck: flood, planning, council tax and sold prices sit beside it.
Check My PostcodeOur opinion, drawn from the figures on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.
Key figures
Oldham crime at a glance
Whole-area totals for the 12 months to March 2026, from Home Office police recorded crime, published by the ONS.
Offences
26,827
Excluding fraud, 12 months
Per 1,000 residents
106.6
Oldham area
England and Wales
84.7
Per 1,000 residents
Largest group
Violence
45% of offences
Offences by group
Oldham offences, April 2025 to March 2026
26,827 offences (excluding fraud), 106.6 per 1,000 residents.
Offence groups
Oldham offences by group
Violence against the person was the largest group, with 11,986 offences: 45% of the 26,827 total.
See the figures
| Offence group | Offences | Share | Per 1,000 residents | England and Wales per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All recorded crime (excluding fraud) | 26,827 | 100% | 106.6 | 84.7 |
| Violence against the person | 11,986 | 45% | 47.6 | 31.8 |
| Theft offences | 5,598 | 21% | 22.3 | 26.5 |
| Public order offences | 2,783 | 10% | 11.1 | 7.3 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 2,204 | 8% | 8.8 | 7.4 |
| Drug offences | 1,320 | 5% | 5.2 | 3.7 |
| Sexual offences | 1,248 | 5% | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| Miscellaneous crimes against society | 874 | 3% | 3.5 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons offences | 432 | 2% | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| Robbery | 382 | 1% | 1.5 | 1.4 |
Home Office police recorded crime, published by the ONS, April 2025 to March 2026
Rate per 1,000
Each group against England and Wales
Violence against the person runs at 47.6 offences per 1,000 residents in the Oldham area, against 31.8 for England and Wales.
Each row: this area, then England and Wales, per 1,000 residents.
Home Office police recorded crime, published by the ONS, April 2025 to March 2026
The nine groups do not overlap and add up to the total. Burglary, vehicle offences and shoplifting are counted inside theft offences. Residents are mid-2024 estimates rounded to 100 by ONS.
Reading the numbers
What the numbers show
In the 12 months to March 2026, police recorded 26,827 offences (excluding fraud) in the Oldham area, which is 106.6 for every 1,000 residents. For England and Wales as a whole the figure is 84.7 per 1,000.
The largest group was violence against the person, with 11,986 offences, 45% of the total.
A rate divides offences by the people who live in the area. Where many people work, shop or go out but few live, as in a city centre, the rate divides by residents only, so it reads higher than the same offences would in a residential area; treat the comparison with England and Wales as context for Oldham, not a verdict.
Looking at one postcode district?
Use the police's own street-level map for the exact postcode, or open the area report for a district.
Questions, answered
Oldham recorded crime: your questions
How many crimes were recorded in Oldham?
What kinds of crime were recorded in Oldham?
Why does this page not show crime by postcode district?
Can I compare Oldham's rate with another city?
Source and method
Where these figures come from
Home Office police recorded crime, published by the Office for National Statistics. Dataset: Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables, Year ending March 2026 edition, released 23 July 2026, covering April 2025 to March 2026. Figures are for the Oldham Community Safety Partnership area (the Oldham local authority), Greater Manchester police force area. Rates are per 1,000 residents, using mid-2024 population estimates, rounded to 100 by ons. England and Wales only. Offences excluding fraud. Rates are per 1,000 resident population. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
These come from each force's return to the Home Office, not from data.police.uk, which is why they exist where the street-level feed is incomplete. Recorded crime is only crime that was reported and recorded, and recording practice differs between forces.
Your Property Check is an information service, not a substitute for your own enquiries.