Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Gadsden records more crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 44% from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, the yearly rates were 5.4 violent crimes and 28.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 4.7 and 21.2 in the rest of Alabama. Scored on crimes Gadsden’s police reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on D for safety: #101 of 130 graded towns in Alabama.
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 about safety in Gadsden
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Alabama towns on Gadsden’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Rainbow City (B), Attalla (D−). Glencoe has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Tidmore Bend is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among Alabama towns, closer to the middle
Alabama’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Gadsden’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 22% of the 130 Alabama towns we grade, against 10% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Gadsden is home to Gadsden State Community College, with 3,579 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Gadsden has 20,459 jobs based in town for 33,367 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Gadsden’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Gadsden property | Rest of Alabama property | Gadsden violent | Rest of Alabama violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 38.8 | 24.6 | 5.6 | 5.3 |
| 2023 | 38.9 | 22.1 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 25.8 | 21.7 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 21.3 | 19.9 | 4.0 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Alabama.
Crime in Gadsden per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Gadsden | Rest of Alabama | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.3 | 4.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Gadsden’s police reported 531 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.7 in the rest of Alabama and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
833 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
131 violent and 702 property, as reported to the FBI by Gadsden’s police.
22 people died in crashes on Gadsden’s roads in 2019–2023
Gadsden had 19 fatal crashes in five years, in which 22 people died; 3 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 13.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Alabama towns of 25,000–100,000 people (9.5, 19 towns).
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.
Gadsden and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gadsden | D | 5.4 | 28.7 |
| Rainbow City | B | 1.0 | 10.2 |
| Attalla | D− | 5.9 | 48.7 |
| Glencoe | — | — | — |
| Tidmore Bend | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Glencoe has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Tidmore Bend is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
Alabama towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gadsden | D | 5.4 | 28.7 |
| Daphne | B+ | 0.5 | 9.3 |
| Alabaster | B− | 1.0 | 13.6 |
| Athens | C | 2.0 | 21.6 |
| Northport | C | 3.9 | 15.2 |
| Enterprise | D | 7.1 | 23.1 |
The five graded Alabama towns closest to Gadsden’s population (33,367), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Gadsden. 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 Gadsden’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (32,894 in 2025); our figure for Gadsden is 33,367 (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 Gadsden
Is Gadsden, AL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Gadsden reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #101 of 130 in Alabama. Its police reported 5.4 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 Gadsden?
5.4 violent and 28.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.7 and 21.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Gadsden in 2025?
Gadsden’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 15.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Gadsden safer than Rainbow City?
Rainbow City reports less crime per resident than Gadsden: Rainbow City grades B for safety and Gadsden D. Rainbow City’s police reported 1.0 violent and 10.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Gadsden?
Gadsden’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Gadsden”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Gadsden.
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.