Scottish Household Survey 2024 findings: neighbourhoods and communities report

Neighbourhood safety

In 2024, the majority of people (78%) said they felt ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark (Table 2.31 in the supporting Excel workbook), this is a decline from 81% in 2023. There are differences by sex,^[15] with 88% of men saying they would feel ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone after dark. This compares to 68% of women feeling ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ (Table 2.31 in the supporting Excel workbook).

Older people, and disabled people, feel less safe in their neighbourhoods. Sixty-one percent of adults aged 75 and over reported feeling ‘very’ or ‘fairly safe’ walking alone, compared to 83% of 35 to 44 year olds (Table 2.31 in the supporting Excel workbook). Disabled people are also much less likely than non-disabled people to report feeling safe walking alone after dark (62%, compared to 83% of non-disabled people) (Table 2.33 in the supporting Excel workbook).

Sixty-five percent of adults living in the most deprived 20% of areas feel ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ safe walking alone, compared to 88% of those living in the least deprived 20% of areas (Table 2.31 in the supporting Excel workbook). Seventy-six percent of ‘White Scottish’ people feel safe, and 77% of minority ethnic groups, this compares to 85% of people who are ‘White: Other British’. Eighty-percent of those who are ‘White: Other’ feel ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ safe (Table 2.33 in the supporting Excel workbook).

There is a clear association between how adults rated their neighbourhood and how safe they felt in their communities. Eighty percent of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very’ or ‘fairly good', said they felt safe walking alone at night, compared with just 27% of adults who rated their neighbourhood as ‘very poor’ (Table 2.34 in the supporting Excel workbook).