What is the most common crime in your suburb?

Is your neighbourhood getting safer? Despite the general picture painted, there has been a slight decrease in overall crime numbers in the past 5 years across New South Wales, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR). Interestingly, crime in NSW is higher in regional NSW than in Sydney.

With this research we uncover the five most common crimes in every suburb across NSW, revealing the cities in New South Wales with the least – and most – crime incidents and rates.

Discover how your suburb ranks with the interactive tables below.

Most common criminal offences in NSW

Crime incident data from April 2023 - March 2024 (incl.)
Chart: Astor LegalSource: BOCSARCreated with Datawrapper

Overall, the most common crime in New South Wales is theft, with 35% of all criminal offences being a form of 'Theft'. The second most common crime at 16% is 'Against Justice Procedures', this includes acts or omissions occurring during justice processes and breaches of court-ordered sentencing.

The least common reported crimes in the state are 'Sexual Offences', 'Robbery' & Homicide', with only 3.4% of cases falling into these categories. Following this at 3.5% is 'Disorderly Conduct' which involves offensive language and conduct, trespassing and criminal intent.

Total incidents of offences per LGA

Crime incident data from April 2023 - March 2024 (incl.). Incidents are recorded by location of occurrence.
Map: Astor LegalSource: BOCSARMap data: PSMA Australia LimitedCreated with Datawrapper

Criminal offence incidents are recorded at the place of occurrence, therefore offences like breaching bail conditions and theft from a retail store are more frequent in regional centres.

With that in mind, Sydney LGA holds the bottom spot, having the highest number of incidents of 36,275. The most common incident at 3,943 incidents, is 'Breaching Bail Conditions', followed by 'Non-Domestic Assault' with 2,921 incidents. Ranking second last is Blacktown LGA with a total of 27,542 incidents. Again, 'Breaching Bail Conditions' is the most common incident with 2,655 cases followed by 'Fraud' at 2,600 incidents. Central Coast LGA rounds out the bottom three, with a total of 25,155 incidents. The two most common crimes are 'Intimidation, Stalking & Harassment' which is only 10 incidents ahead of 'Breaching Bail Conditions'.

Balranald LGA in the Riverina area of western New South Wales is the LGA with the fewest offences with only 109 criminal incidents. 18 of these incidents are the 'Use & Possession of Cannabis', followed by 11 cases of 'Intimidation, Stalking & Harassment'. Coolamon LGA has the second fewest, with a total of 115 criminal offence incidents. The most common offence in Coolamon is 'Fraud' sitting at 16 incidents, followed by 'Malicious Damage to Property' with 13 incidents.

Rate of offences per LGA

The bottom ranking LGAs when analysing the rate per 100,000 people are located in more regional areas in the north and north west of the state, with Walgett, Moree Plains and Coonamble ranking bottom with a high offence rate per capita. 'Breaching Bail Conditions', 'Intimidation, Stalking & Harassment', 'Domestic Assault' and 'Malicious Damage to Property' are shared as common offences among these three LGA.

Despite its higher population density, Sydney remains in the bottom 10 with an incident rate of 16,632 per 100,000 population. Unsurprisingly, 'Steal from Retail Store' and 'Non-Domestic Assault' are among the most common here as a central shopping and nightlife district.

All located in Sydney's North Shore, Ku-Ring-Gai, Mosman and Lane Cove could be regarded as the three safest LGAs in terms of incident rate, all with less than 2,500 incidents per 100,000 in population over the year. Although infrequent, 'Fraud', 'Malicious Damage to Property' and 'Intimidation, Stalking & Harassment' are shared as the most common among these LGAs.

LGAs in NSW with the Lowest Crime Rate

	LGA	Total Incidents	Rate per 100,000 Population	Rate Rank
1	Albury	7,258	12,808	109
2	Armidale Regional	3,572	12,166	103
3	Ballina	3,084	6,583	54
4	Bathurst Regional	4,202	9,525	82
5	Bayside	8,360	4,698	29
6	Bega Valley	1,535	4,265	26
7	Bellingen	845	6,372	50
8	Berrigan	603	6,968	63
9	Blacktown	27,542	6,703	60
10	Bland	558	10,157	85
11	Blayney	416	5,480	38
12	Blue Mountains	3,203	4,111	23
13	Broken Hill	3,369	19,176	117
14	Burwood	2,606	6,383	51
15	Byron	3,033	8,306	75
16	Cabonne	514	3,712	15
17	Camden	4,308	3,371	12
18	Campbelltown	15,852	8,789	80
19	Canada Bay	3,003	3,367	11
20	Canterbury-Bankstown	19,881	5,343	36
21	Central Coast	25,155	7,204	68
22	Cessnock	5,781	8,775	79
23	Clarence Valley	5,366	9,817	84
24	Cobar	460	11,369	99
25	Coffs Harbour	9,031	11,328	98
26	Coolamon	115	2,576	5
27	Coonamble	841	21,987	118
28	Cootamundra-Gundagai	852	7,471	70
29	Cowra	1,228	9,666	83
30	Cumberland	14,627	6,161	47
31	Dubbo Regional	9,985	17,864	116
32	Dungog	399	4,105	22
33	Edward River	1,054	12,463	106
34	Eurobodalla	3,878	9,516	81
35	Fairfield	11,619	5,619	42
36	Federation	675	5,251	34
37	Forbes	1,163	12,453	105
38	Georges River	6,164	4,023	20
39	Gilgandra	504	11,724	101
40	Glen Innes Severn	975	10,900	94
41	Goulburn Mulwaree	2,725	8,402	76
42	Greater Hume Shire	505	4,483	27
43	Griffith	3,041	11,258	97
44	Gunnedah	1,708	12,996	110
45	Gwydir	243	4,935	31
46	Hawkesbury	3,740	5,511	40
47	Hilltops	1,519	7,895	72
48	Hornsby	3,800	2,504	4
49	Hunters Hill	402	2,886	7
50	Inner West	10,986	6,000	45
51	Inverell	2,247	12,506	107
52	Junee	299	4,625	28
53	Kempsey	4,758	15,260	112
54	Kiama	705	3,070	8
55	Ku-Ring-Gai	2,101	1,693	1
56	Kyogle	468	4,950	32
57	Lachlan	962	15,670	113
58	Lake Macquarie	13,357	6,166	48
59	Lane Cove	1,000	2,495	3
60	Leeton	1,196	10,442	87
61	Lismore	4,514	10,195	86
62	Lithgow	2,178	10,465	88
63	Liverpool	15,975	6,663	58
64	Liverpool Plains	506	6,606	55
65	Lockhart	179	5,312	35
66	Maitland	7,926	8,466	77
67	Mid-Coast	8,444	8,683	78
68	Mid-Western Regional	1,712	6,636	56
69	Moree Plains	3,748	29,124	119
70	Mosman	698	2,482	2
71	Murray River	866	6,653	57
72	Murrumbidgee	241	6,758	61
73	Muswellbrook	2,058	12,443	104
74	Nambucca Valley	1,622	7,870	71
75	Narrabri	1,396	10,974	95
76	Narrandera	806	14,088	111
77	Narromine	1,135	17,652	115
78	Newcastle	18,210	10,615	90
79	North Sydney	2,386	3,440	14
80	Northern Beaches	8,494	3,227	9
81	Oberon	236	4,217	24
82	Orange	4,791	10,899	93
83	Parkes	1,802	12,560	108
84	Parramatta	16,665	6,401	52
85	Penrith	18,032	8,163	73
86	Port Macquarie-Hastings	6,184	7,003	65
87	Port Stephens	5,318	6,936	62
88	Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional	3,676	5,724	43
89	Randwick	8,318	6,131	46
90	Richmond Valley	2,486	10,489	89
91	Ryde	4,395	3,352	10
92	Shellharbour	4,585	5,853	44
93	Shoalhaven	7,788	7,106	66
94	Singleton	1,672	6,663	58
95	Snowy Monaro Regional	1,346	6,169	49
96	Snowy Valleys	1,072	7,177	67
97	Strathfield	2,502	5,413	37
98	Sutherland Shire	8,649	3,731	16
99	Sydney	36,275	16,632	114
100	Tamworth Regional	7,724	11,971	102
101	Temora	329	5,487	39
102	Tenterfield	765	11,121	96
103	The Hills Shire	5,249	2,635	6
104	Tweed	6,346	6,478	53
105	Upper Hunter Shire	738	5,163	33
106	Upper Lachlan Shire	336	3,929	18
107	Uralla	255	4,260	25
108	Wagga Wagga	7,291	10,669	91
109	Walcha	249	8,272	74
110	Walgett	1,694	30,711	120
111	Warrumbungle Shire	1,060	11,464	100
112	Waverley	4,850	6,996	64
113	Weddin	202	5,589	41
114	Wentworth	816	10,741	92
115	Willoughby	3,045	4,035	21
116	Wingecarribee	2,058	3,897	17
117	Wollondilly	1,908	3,420	13
118	Wollongong	15,722	7,264	69
119	Woollahra	2,106	3,936	19
120	Yass Valley	821	4,724	30

Crime incident data from April 2023 - March 2024 (incl.). Overall rate is calculated from ABS population data as yearly rate per 100,000 population. Rates for LGAs of populations less than 3,000 are not computed as rates can be unreliable and have been excluded from this table.
Table: Astor LegalSource: BOCSARGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper

NSW top LGA per criminal offence

Criminal Offences in NSW and Top LGAs

Most common offences by total number

	Offence	Category	Total Offences	LGA Most Incidents	# Incidents	LGA Highest Rate	Rate p/100,000
1	Breach Bail Conditions	Against Justice Procedures	54,042	Campbelltown	4,260	Walgett	4,279
2	Malicious Damage to Property	Malicious Damage to Property	49,367	Blacktown	2,490	Moree Plains	2,704
3	Intimidation, Stalking and Harassment	Other Offences	46,146	Central Coast	2,822	Walgett	3,934
4	Fraud	Theft	46,058	Blacktown	2,600	Sydney	1,137
5	Domestic Assault	Assault	36,501	Blacktown	2,171	Walgett	3,571
6	Non-Domestic Assault	Assault	33,292	Sydney	2,921	Walgett	1,595
7	Steal From Motor Vehicle	Theft	28,648	Newcastle	1,853	Forbes	1,927
8	Steal From Retail Store	Theft	27,420	Sydney	2,662	Moree Plains	1,306
9	Breach AVO	Against Justice Procedures	24,345	Central Coast	1,353	Walgett	2,774
10	Other Theft	Theft	20,665	Sydney	2,859
11	Break and Enter Dwelling	Theft	20,340	Newcastle	1,002	Moree Plains	2,277
12	Steal From Dwelling	Theft	16,093	Sydney	1,042	Narromine	684
13	Motor Vehicle Theft	Theft	14,516	Blacktown	752	Moree Plains	1,080
14	Prohibited and Regulated Weapons Offences	Other Offences	14,277	Sydney	890	Walgett	961
15	Use/Possess Cannabis	Drug Offences	14,062	Sydney	1,278	Walgett	852
16	Trespass	Disorderly Conduct	12,322	Sydney	746	Moree Plains	1,787
17	Sexual Assault	Sexual Offences	9,049	Central Coast	469	Moree Plains	544
18	Break and Enter Non-Dwelling	Theft	8,617	Newcastle	402	Coonamble	1,124
19	Receiving/Handling Stolen Goods	Theft	7,861	Sydney	1,167	Sydney	535
20	Sexual Touching, Sexual Act and Other Sexual Offences	Sexual Offences	7,788	Sydney	408	Warrumbungle Shire	433
21	Liquor Offences	Other Offences	6,822	Sydney	1,304	Snowy Monaro Regional	921
22	Use/Possess Amphetamines	Drug Offences	6,533	Sydney	582	Narrandera	455
23	Use/Possess Other Drugs	Drug Offences	5,555	Sydney	684	Narrandera	350
24	Other Drug Offences	Drug Offences	5,275	Liverpool	522	Narrandera	280
25	Resist/Hinder Officer	Against Justice Procedures	5,221	Sydney	599	Walgett	526
26	Arson	Other Offences	4,571	Central Coast	194	Moree Plains	1,049
27	Offensive Conduct	Disorderly Conduct	3,089	Sydney	726	Sydney	333
28	Criminal Intent	Disorderly Conduct	2,801	Sydney	271	Coonamble	392
29	Assault Police	Assault	2,548	Sydney	308	Walgett	381
30	Other Offences Against Justice Procedures	Against Justice Procedures	2,200	Blacktown	150	Albury	115
31	Use/Possess Cocaine	Drug Offences	2,191	Sydney	511	Sydney	234
32	Steal From Person	Theft	2,174	Sydney	510	Sydney	234
33	Blackmail and Extortion	Other Offences	1,672	Blacktown	109	Walgett	91
34	Deal/Traffic Amphetamines	Drug Offences	1,578	Central Coast	365	Lake Macquarie	116
35	Other Offences Against the Person	Other Offences	1,566	Central Coast	102	Edward River	130
36	Pornography Offences	Other Offences	1,192	Blacktown	65	Snowy Valleys	127
37	Use/Possess Narcotics	Drug Offences	1,181	Fairfield	221	Fairfield	107
38	Robbery Without a Weapon	Robbery	1,115	Sydney	130	Moree Plains	93
39	Offensive Language	Disorderly Conduct	1,065	Sydney	109	Edward River	166
40	Use/Possess Ecstacy	Drug Offences	1,002	Sydney	239	Byron	126
41	Deal/Traffic Cocaine	Drug Offences	980	Sydney	255	Sydney	117
42	Fail to Appear	Against Justice Procedures	859	Cumberland	66	Walcha	266
43	Robbery With a Weapon Not Firearm	Robbery	724	Sydney	57	Moree Plains	86
44	Cultivating Cannabis	Drug Offences	652	Mid-Coast	26	Kyogle	148
45	Deal/Traffic Cannabis	Drug Offences	509	Central Coast	52	Hilltops	73
46	Deal/Traffic Other Drugs	Drug Offences	437	Sydney	86	Sydney	39
47	Abduction and Kidnapping	Other Offences	258	Sydney	23	Narromine	31
48	Deal/Traffic Narcotics	Drug Offences	242	Sydney	74	Sydney	34
49	Deal/Traffic Ecstacy	Drug Offences	236	Sydney	57	Hilltops	68
50	Stock Theft	Theft	227	Snowy Monaro Regional	10	Walgett	109
51	Escape Custody	Against Justice Procedures	134	Sydney	11	Parkes	21
52	Importing Drugs	Drug Offences	109	Bayside	27	Bayside	15
53	Robbery With a Firearm	Robbery	101	Canterbury-Bankstown	12	Gilgandra	23
54	Murder	Homicide	64	ID	4	Narrabri	8
55	Manufacture Drug	Drug Offences	57	Georges River	5	Broken Hill	6
56	Betting and Gaming Offences	Other Offences	42	Sydney	16	Tenterfield	44
57	Prostitution Offences	Other Offences	21	Sydney	3	Mid-Western Regional	4
58	Attempted Murder	Homicide	15	Canterbury-Bankstown	3	Upper Lachlan Shire	12
59	Manslaughter	Homicide	12	Bayside	2	Snowy Monaro Regional	5
60	Murder Accessory, Conspiracy	Homicide	3	Bayside	1	Bayside	1

Crime incident data from April 2023 - March 2024 (incl.). Incidents are recorded by location of occurrence. Overall rate is calculated from ABS population data as yearly rate per 100,000 population.
Table: Astor LegalSource: BOCSARCreated with Datawrapper

The most common offence in New South Wales is 'Breaching Bail Conditions' where Campbelltown has the highest number of incidents of 4,260 and Walgett has the highest rate per 100,000 people resulting in 4,279 incidents. 'Malicious Damage to Property' is the second most common offence with Blacktown LGA having the highest number of incidents of 2,490 and Moore Plains holds the highest rate resulting in 2,704 incidents.

The least common offence is murder accessory, conspiracy with a total of 3 offences. 'Manslaughter' is the second least common offence, with a total of 12 incidents. Interestingly, Bayside LGA has the highest number of incidents for 3 of the 10 least common crimes in the state, 'Murder Accessory, Conspiracy', 'Manslaughter' and 'Importing Drugs'.

Theft is the most common category of crime in New South Wales, with 4 of the top 10 criminal offences in the state falling into the 'Theft' category. The least common category is 'Homicide', where 4 of the bottom 10 offences fall into this category.

About the data

The data used for this study was obtained from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) for crime incident data from April, 2023 – March, 2024 inclusive. The incidents are recorded by the Local Government Area (LGA) of occurrence. The information on this page was checked by criminal lawyers in Sydney before being published.

The rate per 100,000 population illustrates the relative crime per head of residential population for each LGA over the course of a year. This is computed by dividing the number of recorded incidents by the residential population for each area. Rates are calculated using population data provided by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

LGAs with populations of less than 3000 are hatched because their recorded crime rate can be unreliable. In areas with small populations, a modest number of incidents/victims/offenders can have a large effect on the calculated crime rate thus giving a misleading representation of crime in that location. Rates should also be treated cautiously for regions with high visitor numbers relative to the residential population: a particular issue for the Sydney city centre.

State rankings are based on the total number of LGAs available for comparison for incidents and rate per 100,000 population.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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