Photo: American Diabetio · CC BY-SA 4.0In Huntsville, the kinds of crime the grade counts rose 219% per resident from 2023 to 2025
2 of the 3 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. What’s more, the overall Safety Grade is C (#58 of 130 graded towns in Alabama, and #117 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000), which means more crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Behind the grade sit 3.4 violent crimes and 18.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 4.8 and 21.6 in the rest of 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 Huntsville
2 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Alabama towns on Huntsville’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Owens Cross Roads (B+), Athens (C), Decatur (D). Triana reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Moores Mill 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 Huntsville’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 55% of the 130 Alabama towns we grade, against 25% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Huntsville’s police reported 23 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 7.0 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Alabama (12.7) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Alabama
36.9 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (92 reported in 2025), below the rest of Alabama (51.3) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Huntsville reports less crime per resident than 64% (#117). Places like it ↓
A job center
Huntsville has 173,595 jobs based in town for 233,627 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Huntsville’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. Its violent rate (3.4) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Huntsville property | Rest of Alabama property | Huntsville violent | Rest of Alabama violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.1 | 25.7 | 3.0 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 7.0 | 23.5 | 1.3 | 5.2 |
| 2024 | 23.9 | 21.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 22.7 | 19.7 | 3.9 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Alabama.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Huntsville | Rest of Alabama | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.0 | 15.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 2.7 | 14.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 8.3 | 12.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 9.8 | 11.8 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Huntsville | Rest of Alabama | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.9 | 52.2 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 17.4 | 53.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 53.8 | 53.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 39.3 | 46.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Huntsville’s police reported 23 homicides, 92 robberies and 924 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Alabama and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Crime in Huntsville 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.
6,234 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.
924 violent and 5,310 property, as reported to the FBI by Huntsville’s police.
124 people died in crashes on Huntsville’s roads in 2019–2023
Huntsville had 118 fatal crashes in five years, in which 124 people died; 34 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 16 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Alabama towns of 100,000+ people (14.4, 5 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.
Huntsville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville | C | 3.4 | 18.0 |
| Triana | — | — | — |
| Owens Cross Roads | B+ | 1.2 | 7.7 |
| Athens | C | 2.0 | 21.6 |
| Moores Mill | — | — | — |
| Decatur | D | 5.8 | 21.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Triana reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Moores Mill 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville | C | 3.4 | 18.0 |
| Montgomery | C− | 4.6 | 18.7 |
| Mobile | D | 7.4 | 18.6 |
| Birmingham | D− | 13.4 | 43.2 |
The five graded Alabama towns closest to Huntsville’s population (233,627), 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 Huntsville. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Huntsville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (234,043 in 2025); our figure for Huntsville is 233,627 (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 Huntsville
Is Huntsville, AL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Huntsville reports more crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #58 of 130 in Alabama. Its police reported 3.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of Alabama and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Huntsville?
3.4 violent and 18.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.8 and 21.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Huntsville in 2025?
Huntsville’s police reported 23 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 9.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Huntsville safer than Owens Cross Roads?
Owens Cross Roads reports less crime per resident than Huntsville: Owens Cross Roads grades B+ for safety and Huntsville C. Owens Cross Roads’s police reported 1.2 violent and 7.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Huntsville?
Huntsville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Huntsville”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Huntsville.
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.