Take a visit to the CBD, Liverpool, Mount Druitt and Campbelltown and you have the highest chance of becoming yet another statistic on the state’s crime map.

Residents in these areas and some rural postcodes are reporting thousands of crime each year, including hundreds of car and house break-ins and dozens of sexual assaults.

At the other end of the scale, people in towns of Texas, Corryong, Swan Hill and the inner west suburb of Homebush West are enjoying some of the safest spaces in the state, with the lowest number of reported crimes between September 2014 September last year.

According to NSW Police, the types of crime are changing. They days where a typical burglar could be seen climbing out of a window carrying a television are long gone as the theft of car keys and small electronic devices is on the rise.

SEE OUR INTERACTIVE MAP OF CRIME IN NEW SOUTH WALES

Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research

* For murder the count given is for the number of victims, not incidents.

Vehicle owners are being warned not keep their spare keys well-hidden after an increase in thieves stealing them to gain access to cars, which have become increasingly hard to break into by other means.

NSW Police Property Crime Squad Commander Murray Chapman said while theft from cars and homes had decreased overall, stolen car keys was on the rise.

“It’s not isolated to any one area, it’s actually a national trend,” Supt Chapman said.

“We think it’s largely due to the fact that cars are harder to steal now because they have immobilisers, better security and better technology.

“We’ve certainly seen an increase in keys being stolen, either from handbags or from residential break and enters.

“We’re encouraging the public to keep their car keys secure, both when they’re out in public, but also securing them at home and not leaving them in obvious visible locations.”

Supt Chapman said theft of large items such as Televisions and desktop computers was on the decline, with mobile phones and iPads now popular targets.

“That old vision that most of the public has of a burglar climbing out of the window with a big TV is not really a true representation anymore,” he said.

“Offenders have been targeting small portable electrical items, so we encourage people not to leave these sorts of things on display.

“The other main items are still cash and jewellery.”

There were more than 400 thefts from motor vehicles in the Sydney CBD between September 2014 and September 2015, along with 58 sexual assaults and 2951 fraud offences.

Wagga Wagga had the highest number of house breaking in the state with 660, while Liverpool and surrounding suburbs had the most thefts from motor vehicles with 961.

NRMA Insurance Research Centre senior manager Robert McDonald said thieves were also targeting older model cars, including Holden, Ford and Toyota models, because they were easier to break into.

Our data shows older and more common cars such as Holden, Ford and Toyota are the usual types of cars stolen or broken into. These car models are more common and have little in the way of effective anti theft security,” he said.

“We have seen an increase in cars being stolen using keys, as immobiliser equipped cars are becoming harder to steal without them.

“Thieves are opportunistic and generally target cars that have been left unlocked, have valuables visible from the outside, or have been parked in dark and quiet areas.”

Supt Chapman urged car and homeowners to leave their spare keys hidden and keep small electronics out of sight.

“Lock your cars, make sure your alarms are on, park in a good well-lit area,” he said.

“Do not leave money and portable items on display in motor vehicles.”