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2022-10-13 Ashland, Alabama - Clay County CourthousePhoto: Rivers Langley · CC BY-SA 4.0
D
Safety in Ashland · FBI data, 2023–2025

Ashland reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns

On crimes reported to the FBI by Ashland’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety.

Violent crime
8.1
per 1,000 a year · Well above rest of AL (4.7)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
18.0
per 1,000 a year · Below rest of AL (21.3)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
152
47 violent · 105 property
2023–2025
Trend
→ Steady
2023 to 2025
within ordinary swings

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of AL” is every other Alabama city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Ashland

A job center

Ashland has 2,462 jobs based in town for 1,952 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓

Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Ashland’s grade

Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.

Where Ashland sits
D− Violent 8.1C Property 18.0
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 10%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,448)Less crime than 8%
A firm grade. Built on 152 reported crimes over three years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn’t change the letter.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Ashland’s police reported 47 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 8.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.7 in the rest of Alabama and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 16 property crimes reported

And about 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (15.5)Violent crime (5.2)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Ashland5.2
Rest of AL4.4
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Ashland15.5
Rest of AL19.9
U.S. (FBI)15.5

Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

Trend

Reported crime is steady

Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Alabama.

Show as a table
YearAshland propertyRest of Alabama propertyAshland violentRest of Alabama violent
202215.824.85.65.3
202314.822.311.24.9
202423.921.77.84.8
202515.519.95.24.4

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

40 crimes reported in 2025

10 violent and 30 property, as reported to the FBI by Ashland’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft26
Burglary4
Vehicle theft0
Aggravated assault10
Robbery0
Rape0
Homicide0
Arson1
10
violent crimes
30
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

No one died in a crash on Ashland’s roads in 2019–2023

That is about what is typical for Alabama towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (11.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Ashland’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Ashland’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.

0
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
0.0
per 100,000 a year · Alabama towns of 2,500–5,000: 11.2

Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.

Next door

Ashland and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

Ashland
A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
AshlandD8.118.0

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Alabama towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
AshlandD8.118.0
CreolaB2.08.1
Cedar BluffB−1.99.9
HarpersvilleB−1.911.2
StevensonC−4.415.5
Dauphin IslandC−1.628.7

The five graded Alabama towns closest to Ashland’s population (1,952), by grade.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
  • One number for all of Ashland. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
  • Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Ashland’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,936 in 2025); our figure for Ashland is 1,952 (2025 Census estimate).
  • Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.

How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →

Questions about safety in Ashland

Is Ashland, AL safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Ashland reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade. Its police reported 8.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.7 in the rest of Alabama and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

What is the crime rate in Ashland?

8.1 violent and 18.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.7 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

Is crime going up or down in Ashland?

Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.

Who polices Ashland?

Ashland’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Ashland”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Ashland.

Town Square →
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Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.