Bedford

At a glance, population and employment estimates for Bedford.

Population: 174,687
People in Employment: 87,300 (74.6%)
People Inactive: 24,935 (21.3%)
People Unemployed: 4,855 (4.1%)
Number Of Jobs: 74k
Median Salary: £29,225
Mean Salary: £33,852

Crime Statistics

You can view the number of crimes per crime type for this year and the previous. You can also see the trend for each crime type, which shows if crimes committed are getting better, worse or no change.

We also list all of the parliamentary wards for Bedford. You'll be able to see the crimes for this year so far and also how many crimes per 1000 people.

If you need to see crimes on a street level, you can use the interactive crime map which shows you crimes and their outcome.

Crime rate by type in Bedford for 2024

Bedfords most common type of crime is: Violence and sexual offences. In 2023 there were 5,649 crimes and in 2022 there were 6,776 crimes. Which is an decrease of 1,127 crimes.

Crime Type	Previous Year	Crimes This Year	Trend vs previous year
Violence and sexual offences	5,649	397	Getting Better
Anti-social behaviour	2,825	201	Getting Better
Public order	1,479	92	Getting Better
Other theft	1,227	91	Getting Better
Vehicle crime	1,122	76	Getting Better
Criminal damage and arson	1,250	71	Getting Better
Drugs	586	42	Getting Better
Shoplifting	859	38	Getting Better
Burglary	658	30	Getting Better
Other crime	343	24	Getting Better
Bicycle theft	415	20	Getting Better
Possession of weapons	158	14	Getting Better
Theft from the person	166	12	Getting Better
Robbery	166	10	Getting Better

Number of crimes for Electoral Wards in Bedford

Think of Electoral Wards as the boundaries your local councillors represent in your area. Electoral Wards will help you get a better picture of how much crime takes place in and around the places you live.

Castle has the highest crime rate of all the wards in Bedford, with 10941 crimes and 402 crimes per 1000 people. Whilst Riseley has 46 crimes and 14 crimes per 1000 people.

Name	Crimes in 2024	Crimes per 1000 people
Castle	334	56
Harpur	156	18
Queens Park	152	16
Kingsbrook	123	13
Oakley	88	16
Cauldwell	81	7
Kempston West	60	9
Goldington	50	5
Brickhill	45	6
De Parys	45	7
Kempston Central and East	33	5
Sharnbrook	30	8
Kempston North	24	7
Bromham and Biddenham	22	3
Great Barford	22	3
Putnoe	22	3
Harrold	21	5
Clapham	19	4
Kempston South	17	4
Newnham	17	4
Wyboston	16	4
Eastcotts	8	2
Kempston Rural	8	1
Wootton	7	2
Elstow and Stewartby	6	1
Riseley	3	1
Wilshamstead	3	1

Crime map for Bedford

Showing crimes from the beginning of the year up until 2024-07. Each Marker on the map represents a crime. Click on the marker to find out more about the crime. Please note, all crime locations are approximate.

Housing Statistics

View average house prices by year. We show property prices from 2010 up until the current year. You can also see property prices over time using our interactive chart.

Average property prices by year for Bedford

The average property price in Bedford is higher than the £290,000 UK average. This could indicate a property shortage in the area pushing prices up or that the average household income in Bedford is higher than average. Building and selling properties in Bedford could be more profitable.

Year	Avg. Detached Price	Avg. Semi-Detached Price	Avg. Terraced Price	Avg. Flat Price
2023	£593,132.48	£355,192.02	£275,478.18	£183,021.13
2022	£572,334.09	£344,851.26	£268,351.44	£179,255.33
2021	£508,143.01	£307,597.02	£241,325.09	£166,930.17
2020	£464,411.37	£284,121.67	£223,140.57	£158,947.81
2019	£464,955.15	£283,429.13	£222,795.18	£164,021.70
2018	£468,053.24	£284,860.80	£224,701.90	£167,995.43
2017	£450,887.66	£273,822.83	£216,417.97	£165,075.25
2016	£416,310.55	£253,164.89	£201,425.43	£150,000.27
2015	£367,978.10	£223,695.16	£178,651.34	£133,371.98
2014	£333,197.63	£202,972.21	£162,920.32	£121,665.28
2013	£307,608.44	£186,405.75	£150,050.58	£112,451.15
2012	£300,047.33	£181,690.45	£146,305.94	£111,432.41
2011	£295,443.36	£177,799.90	£143,043.91	£110,278.82
2010	£293,318.97	£178,795.94	£144,573.37	£111,896.71

Property prices over time for Bedford

Showing crimes from 2010 up until July 2024. You can use the interactive chart to zoom in on a timeframe to see greater detail.

Employment and Annual Salary information for Bedford

The median salary in Bedford is £29,225 and the mean salary in Bedford is £33,852.00. The median value is a better indicator of salary in a region since the mean salary can be skewed by a small number of people that are high earners.

Number of Jobs (thousands): 74k
Median Salary: £29,225
Annual Percentage Change: 9.8%
Mean Salary: £33,852

Salary comparison between Bedford and East

See how Bedford compares to the rest of East. Jobs per thousand, median and mean salary as well as annual percentage vs last year.

The highest median salary in East is £36,416 in St Albans and the lowest median salary is £0 in Tendring. Bedford ranks 16 out of 45 in terms of median salary.

Location	Jobs (thousands)	Median Salary	Annual Percentage Change	Mean Salary	Annual Percentage Change
St Albans	52k	£36,416	-1.9%	£56,468	12.8%
South Cambridgeshire	71k	£35,367	4.9%	£40,105	-1.3%
North Hertfordshire	53k	£35,179	19.5%	£40,413	15.6%
East Hertfordshire	52k	£34,659	13.8%	£50,553	19.2%
Brentwood	25k	£34,561	26.6%	£56,097	0.0%
Cambridge	46k	£34,165	9.7%	£39,909	2.9%
Central Bedfordshire UA	117k	£33,686	11.4%	£36,988	10.2%
Broxbourne	33k	£32,996	21.3%	£39,457	25.7%
Rochford	24k	£32,685	2.8%	£39,835	1.8%
Three Rivers	33k	£32,665	11.6%	£43,085	11.3%
Epping Forest	37k	£31,370	9.3%	£40,872	14.9%
Chelmsford	50k	£30,977	5.1%	£36,828	0.7%
Thurrock UA	54k	£30,696	4.4%	£34,156	2.4%
Watford	30k	£29,915	3.7%	£36,794	11.9%
Dacorum	52k	£29,431	7.8%	£34,983	5.9%
Braintree	53k	£29,336	10.3%	£34,411	11.5%
Huntingdonshire	74k	£29,066	2.9%	£32,399	4.5%
Southend-on-Sea UA	49k	£28,717	4.2%	£35,412	4.6%
Stevenage	29k	£28,393	20.1%	£31,170	7.0%
Colchester	68k	£28,121	15.7%	£36,704	18.8%
Basildon	56k	£27,926	3.4%	£33,398	6.7%
Castle Point	26k	£27,865	0.0%	£35,537	10.0%
Hertsmere	33k	£27,837	5.5%	£32,125	1.1%
Broadland	41k	£27,028	9.1%	£31,596	16.8%
West Suffolk	57k	£27,000	4.8%	£32,964	1.7%
Babergh	33k	£26,911	0.8%	£33,212	-6.0%
Harlow	31k	£26,893	8.2%	£29,180	4.9%
South Norfolk	42k	£26,654	0.3%	£30,801	5.4%
Fenland	38k	£26,537	12.9%	£29,811	13.6%
Mid Suffolk	43k	£26,183	2.4%	£31,515	11.1%
Great Yarmouth	31k	£26,164	17.4%	£27,611	9.1%
Norwich	41k	£25,802	2.5%	£29,927	-4.5%
Luton UA	65k	£25,402	4.2%	£28,032	5.4%
East Suffolk	91k	£24,886	6.5%	£28,665	8.0%
Ipswich	58k	£24,846	4.5%	£28,637	8.6%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	53k	£24,778	9.5%	£28,449	6.4%
Breckland	47k	£24,659	2.1%	£26,526	3.0%
Peterborough UA	75k	£24,421	-0.6%	£29,370	3.4%
North Norfolk	25k	£23,864	4.8%	£25,505	1.6%
Maldon	0k	£0	0.0%	£0	0.0%
Tendring	41k	£0	0.0%	£31,871	11.6%
Uttlesford	0k	£0	0.0%	£0	0.0%
East Cambridgeshire	39k	£0	0.0%	£36,736	9.3%
Welwyn Hatfield	34k	£0	0.0%	£33,782	4.9%