Camborne records noticeably more crime than the rest of Cornwall, and any answer that softens that is selling something. The rate runs about a third above the county figure. Violence and sexual offences make up the largest recorded category, as they do almost everywhere in England and Wales. Shoplifting, by contrast, accounts for a smaller share here than it does nationally. This is a town whose numbers are worse than the county average and which has never shown much interest in dressing them up.
Over the twelve months to May 2026, police.uk recorded 2,273 crimes in the area, giving a published rate of about 99 per 1,000 residents. That sits roughly 34% above the Cornwall average. Both of those are published figures rather than anything worked out here, and the rate is calculated on a statistical population base rather than by dividing the count by the number of people living in the town.
Putting the two side by side makes it concrete. Cornwall as a whole records about 74 crimes per 1,000 residents over the same period. Camborne records about 99. That is a real gap, not a rounding artefact, and it is the single weakest thing about the place on paper.
The texture underneath those numbers is a proper town rather than a village with a postcode. Population density averages around 4,900 people per square kilometre across the area, which is urban by Cornish standards and puts more front doors, more shops and more footfall inside the same space than the county norm. Unemployment sits at about 3% and overcrowded households at about 3%. None of those figures explains the crime rate, and none of them should be read as though it does. They describe the kind of place that is generating the count: dense, working, with a town centre that people actually use.
On the mix, violence and sexual offences account for about 46% of recorded crime against roughly 35% across England and Wales. That category is a broad statutory grouping rather than a description of the street, covering everything from serious offences to common assault without injury, and it tops the list almost everywhere in the country. Anti-social behaviour makes up about 15% here against roughly 16% nationally, which is effectively the national picture. Criminal damage and arson runs at about 9% against roughly 7%, public order at about 6% against roughly 7%, and other theft at about 6% against roughly 7%. Shoplifting accounts for about 4% locally against roughly 8% nationally, which is the one category where Camborne comes in well under the national share.
What happens after a report is a separate question from how much crime there is, and the honest answer is not encouraging. Devon and Cornwall Police charged or summonsed a suspect in about 8% of cases over the same twelve months, against roughly 12% across England and Wales, which places the force 42nd out of 42 forces. About 26% of cases were closed with no suspect identified at all. Those are force-wide outcomes covering a very large rural area, not a measure of this town, and they say nothing about whether a given street is safe. They do say something about what to expect if you ever need to make the call.
Safety is where Camborne comes off worst, and the gap against the county is wide enough that a buyer should weigh it properly rather than waving it through. Look at the specific streets you are considering on the police.uk map before you decide, because a town-level rate this far above average is an average covering a lot of different places to live.