Larkfield is about as safe as the borough around it, no safer and no worse. Crime runs roughly level with the council-area average. The share that is nuisance sits above the national one. Charges come through more often than in most of England. Ordinary, in the one subject where ordinary is a compliment.
Police figures put Larkfield's crime rate at about 71 per 1,000 residents in the year to May 2026, from 2,098 recorded crimes over those twelve months. That rate sits roughly 2% above the Tonbridge and Malling average. It is a published rate, so it will not match what you get by dividing the count by the headline population, because the two use different population bases.
Side by side, the gap is small. Larkfield's rate is about 71 per 1,000, the Tonbridge and Malling rate about 69. Two points either way sits inside the ordinary wobble between one year's figures and the next. The neighbourhood app will still treat each point as a siren.
The area producing those numbers is settled suburban housing rather than anything dramatic. Density averages about 4,100 people per square kilometre, unemployment sits around 2% and overcrowding around 2%. That describes a place with jobs, space and not much pressure behind the front doors. It explains nothing on its own about who commits what.
The mix is where Larkfield looks different from the national picture. Violence and sexual offences make up about 34% of recorded crime here against about 35% nationally, so the biggest category is in line with the country. That grouping runs from serious harm down to common assault without injury, and it tops the list almost everywhere. Anti-social behaviour is the real outlier at about 23% against 16% nationally, with criminal damage and arson at about 11% against 7%. Other theft is about 7% against 7%, vehicle crime about 6% against 5%, and shoplifting about 5% against 8%. Put plainly, Larkfield's crime leans towards things that get broken and people who make a noise, which is miserable to live next to and rarely dangerous.
What happens after a report is a separate question from how much crime there is. Kent Police charges a suspect in about 16% of cases, against about 12% nationally, putting the force sixth of 42 in the twelve months to May 2026. That is a county-wide figure covering everything Kent Police handles, not a rate for Larkfield's streets. The less flattering half is that about 36% of cases close with nobody identified. If your shed gets done, the honest odds favour a crime number over a court date.
Larkfield is middling on safety: level with its borough, heavier than average on nuisance and lighter on the offences that make headlines. A quiet street here is quiet for the same reasons it is anywhere else, so check the one you are buying on.