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Downtown NewtonPhoto: Ecjmartin1 · Public domain
C+
Safety in Newton · FBI data, 2023–2025

Reported crime per resident in Newton fell 74% from 2023 to 2025

Overall, Newton grades C+ for safety: close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.

Violent crime
1.6
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of AL (4.7)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
14.7
per 1,000 a year · Below rest of AL (21.3)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
81
8 violent · 73 property
2023–2025
Trend
▼ Falling
2023 to 2025
beyond 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 Newton

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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Newton’s grade

Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Newton’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (14.7) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.

Where Newton sits
B− Violent 1.6C+ Property 14.7
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 44%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,448)Less crime than 33%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 81 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Newton anywhere from C to B.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Trend

Reported crime is falling

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.

Show as a table
YearNewton propertyRest of Alabama propertyNewton violentRest of Alabama violent
202228.524.88.05.3
202326.922.23.14.9
20249.621.71.84.8
20257.819.90.04.4

Crimes per 1,000 residents

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Newton’s police reported 8 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.6 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 8 property crimes reported

And no violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (7.8)Violent crime (0)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Newton0.0
Rest of AL4.4
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Newton7.8
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.

What gets reported

13 crimes reported in 2025

0 violent and 13 property, as reported to the FBI by Newton’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft11
Burglary2
Vehicle theft0
Aggravated assault0
Robbery0
Rape0
Homicide0
Arson0
0
violent crimes
13
property crimes

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

On the roads

Two people died in crashes on Newton’s roads in 2019–2023

Newton had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.

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 Newton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Newton’s own rate (30.1) is context, not a ranking.

2
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
30.1
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

Newton and its neighbors

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

Pinckard: not gradedPinckardNewton
A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
NewtonC+1.614.7

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

Alabama towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
NewtonC+1.614.7
RaglandC−4.117.8
ButlerC−5.019.4
WoodstockD4.326.9
SummerdaleD5.427.7
CordovaD4.835.0

The five graded Alabama towns closest to Newton’s population (1,652), 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 Newton. 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 Newton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,664 in 2025); our figure for Newton is 1,652 (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 Newton

Is Newton, AL safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Newton reports more crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade. Its police reported 1.6 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 Newton?

1.6 violent and 14.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.7 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

Is crime going up or down in Newton?

Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.

Who polices Newton?

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

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Newton.

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.