Yes, Ashtead is a safe place, and that has been so for some time. Crime runs about a fifth below the district average. Almost nobody is out of work. Overcrowded homes are rare. Ashtead's crime figures are modest, much like the rest of its life.
Surrey Police recorded 969 crimes in Ashtead in the twelve months from June 2025 to May 2026, and the published rate for that year is about 53 crimes per 1,000 people. That puts Ashtead roughly 20% below the Mole Valley average. The largest group of uniformed men ever stationed in the village were the Royal Fusiliers billeted here in the First World War, and they spent their time building a convalescent hospital at Woodcote Park in Epsom. The village has been well behaved since.
Across Mole Valley as a whole, the published rate for the same year is about 67 crimes per 1,000 people, against Ashtead's 53. Mole Valley is hardly a rough district to begin with, which makes Ashtead's gap more impressive. Within the district, Ashtead counts among the places where less happens.
The 2021 Census shows what kind of place produces these figures. Ashtead has about 3,000 people per square kilometre on average, which is suburban density and nowhere near urban. Unemployment was about 2% and only about 2% of households were overcrowded. These numbers describe the neighbourhood and do not explain the crime rate. They show streets of family houses, most of them occupied by people with somewhere to be in the morning.
The mix of crime is close to the national pattern. Violence and sexual offences make up about 36% of recorded crime here against about 35% across England and Wales, so this category is about the same share as in most places. It is a broad legal grouping that includes common assault where nobody was hurt. Anti-social behaviour is about 14% here against 16% nationally, and shoplifting about 9% against 8%. Criminal damage and arson are about 7% in both, and other theft about 6% here against 7%. The one category that stands out is public order offences, at about 11% against 7% nationally. A share of a small total can move a long way with only a few incidents, but this one has a full year of figures behind it. For a place with this few incidents, it is a busy category, and the A24 pubs and parades are the obvious places to look. The share is real, but nothing in the figures ties it to a particular street.
Once a crime is reported, what happens next is down to the whole force. Surrey Police charges a suspect in about 11% of cases, against about 12% nationally, which ranks it 30th of 42 forces in England and Wales. About 36% of its cases close without a suspect being identified. Those figures cover the whole of Surrey, and charging decisions are made at force level, so they say nothing about Ashtead's streets in particular. The figures describe how well the police follow up a crime once it is reported, and that is a separate question from how much crime there is. Ashtead's crime rate is low. Surrey Police's charge rate is ordinary.
Safety is one of Ashtead's strengths, and the figures support that. Most of the crime that does happen here is the minor kind, and very little of it is serious.