Notting Hill is about as safe as the rest of its borough, with a crime rate slightly above it. Violence and sexual offences make up about half the share they do nationally. Shoplifting makes up more than double. Theft from people's pockets and bags is unusually common. Most of the crime here is aimed at goods and belongings.
The Metropolitan Police recorded 8,453 crimes in the area in the year from June 2025 to May 2026. The published rate is about 193 crimes per 1,000 residents, roughly 6% above the Kensington and Chelsea average. That puts it close to the borough norm. A full twelve months of figures leaves little room for one bad weekend to distort the number.
The borough's own published rate over the same year is about 183 per 1,000, against about 193 for Notting Hill. Ten crimes per thousand residents is the whole difference. A rate that close to the borough's means Notting Hill is neither the worst nor the best part of Kensington and Chelsea.
The district is very densely packed, at about 18,300 people per square kilometre on average. About 5% of working-age residents are unemployed and about 10% of households are overcrowded. That is a lot of people in tall, divided houses on busy streets, and a district this crowded gives every number more people to come from.
The mix is where Notting Hill stands out. Shoplifting is the largest category at about 19% of recorded crime, against about 8% nationally. Violence and sexual offences make up about 18%, against about 35% nationally, and that national category takes in everything from serious assault to common assault with no injury. Anti-social behaviour is about 16%, the same as the national share. Other theft is about 9% against 7%, drugs about 8% against 4%, and theft from the person about 7% against 2%. A district famous enough to have crowds walking along looking up at the houses will see more phones and wallets go missing. Check the police's street-level crime map for the exact road you are considering, because a home a few doors from the market and one on a back street can come out very differently.
The charge rate measures what happens after a crime is reported, not how likely one is. The Metropolitan Police charges a suspect in about 10% of cases, against about 12% nationally, which puts it 33rd of 42 forces in England and Wales. In about 53% of its cases nobody is ever identified. That figure covers the whole force, from Notting Hill to the edge of London. For a stolen phone, the realistic outcome is an insurance claim.
Notting Hill is middling on safety. Crime here is mostly about property, and the place is a little busier with it than its borough.