Towns and cities were ranked based on latest crime data
Stoke-on-Trent is the region’s crime hotspot.(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A Midlands city has been named as the region’s crime capital following analysis of latest police data.
Towns and cities were ranked based on their population, to give each area a crime rate based on the number of offences for each person who lives there.
The aim was to provide a more accurate picture of areas which suffer with crime as cities with huge populations – like Birmingham – will always top offending tables.
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Stoke-on-Trent topped the Midlands list for number of crimes per head.
The Staffordshire city has a higher crime rate than anywhere else in the region, and was ranked 23rd nationally.
That placed it just ahead of Birmingham in 24th.
There were over 136,400 non-fraud offences recorded in the second city last year.
While that was much higher than Stoke (30,600), Birmingham has a huge population of around 1.1 million.
Stoke has a crime rate of 118 per 1,000 residents, while Birmingham’s is slightly lower at 117.8.
Residents can check the crime rate where they live using the interactive map below
Elsewhere in the Midlands, Leicester ranked 32nd and Wolverhampton 42nd.
Sandwell was in 69th place, followed by Walsall in 70th.
The crime map shows the West Midlands as a higher-crime area, with a number of areas in darker shades of red.
Unsurprisingly, London’s Met Police recorded most crimes last year with 948,000
But Middlesbrough, in the north east, was the area with the highest crime rate when adjusted for population.