Bromley is reasonably safe, but less safe than the borough around it. Its crime rate is about a third higher than the borough average. Violence makes up a smaller share of crime than it does nationally. Shoplifting and car crime make up bigger shares. Most of what pushes the numbers up is theft, and very little of it is street violence.
The Metropolitan Police recorded 8,780 crimes in the area in the twelve months from June 2025 to May 2026. The published rate for those twelve months is about 118 crimes per 1,000 residents, roughly 32% above the average for the London Borough of Bromley. A full year of figures is enough that one bad month does not distort it.
The borough-wide rate for the same year was about 89 per 1,000, against about 118 here. Much of the rest of the borough is detached houses, golf courses and commuter villages with very little crime, and that pulls the borough average down. The town, with its shops and stations, starts from a higher base. Bromley's crime is high compared with Bromley borough, which is a lower bar than London as a whole.
This is also the most built-up part of the borough, with an average of about 6,900 residents per square kilometre. Unemployment stands at about 4% and about 8% of households are overcrowded. Neither figure is unusual for a London town centre with suburbs around it.
The crime mix is where Bromley differs from the national pattern. Violence and sexual offences make up about 25% of recorded crime here, against about 35% nationally, and that category includes common assault without injury. Anti-social behaviour is about 17% here and 16% nationally, so close to average. Shoplifting is about 13%, against 8% nationally, and vehicle crime about 10%, against 5%. Other theft, at about 6%, and public order offences, also about 6%, are both close to the national shares of 7%. Bromley is one of London's major shopping centres and competes with Croydon and Bluewater for shoppers, and a share of its visitors don't stop at the tills.
Bromley joined the Metropolitan Police District in 1840 and has been policed from London ever since. Across the force, the Metropolitan Police charge a suspect in about 10% of cases, against about 12% nationally, which places it 33rd of 42 forces. About 53% of the Metropolitan Police's cases are closed without a suspect being identified. Those figures cover the whole force, all of London, and they tell you what happens after a crime is reported, not how likely a crime is here. The police's street-level crime map for the road you are looking at, set against the map for the High Street, is the useful check. It will show whether a house is near the shops or well away from them.
Bromley is one of the less safe parts of its borough, and most of the difference comes from theft from shops and cars, not violence. Living a few streets from the High Street makes a big difference.