Pelham sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Pelham grades B for safety (#19 of 130 graded towns in Alabama): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Pelham
1 of the 3 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 Alabama towns on Pelham’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Helena (A), Hoover (B), Alabaster (B−). Chelsea and Indian Springs Village have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Eagle Point is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among Alabama towns, higher
Alabama’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Pelham’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 85% of the 130 Alabama towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Pelham has 16,081 jobs based in town for 25,664 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.
What’s behind Pelham’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Pelham’s police reported 122 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Pelham | Rest of Alabama | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 5.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 4.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 4.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
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
| Year | Pelham property | Rest of Alabama property | Pelham violent | Rest of Alabama violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.2 | 24.9 | 1.3 | 5.4 |
| 2023 | 10.8 | 22.3 | 1.6 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 7.3 | 21.9 | 1.7 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 8.2 | 20.0 | 1.6 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
251 crimes reported in 2025
40 violent and 211 property, as reported to the FBI by Pelham’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
10 people died in crashes on Pelham’s roads in 2019–2023
Pelham had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Alabama towns of 5,000–25,000 people (9.6, 96 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.
Pelham and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelham | B | 1.6 | 8.8 |
| Alabaster | B− | 1.0 | 13.6 |
| Chelsea | — | — | — |
| Helena | A | 0.6 | 4.4 |
| Hoover | B | 0.7 | 12.4 |
| Eagle Point | — | — | — |
| Indian Springs Village | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Chelsea and Indian Springs Village have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Eagle Point 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelham | B | 1.6 | 8.8 |
| Fairhope | B− | 1.4 | 12.4 |
| Trussville | C+ | 1.3 | 17.6 |
| Albertville | C | 2.5 | 16.4 |
| Homewood | C | 1.6 | 20.5 |
| Bessemer | D− | 19.4 | 73.2 |
The five graded Alabama towns closest to Pelham’s population (25,664), by grade.
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 Pelham. 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 Pelham’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (25,692 in 2025); our figure for Pelham is 25,664 (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 Pelham
Is Pelham, AL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Pelham reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #19 of 130 in Alabama. 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 Pelham?
1.6 violent and 8.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.7 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Pelham?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Pelham in 2025?
Pelham’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Pelham safer than Alabaster?
Alabaster reports more crime per resident than Pelham: Alabaster grades B− for safety and Pelham B. Alabaster’s police reported 1.0 violent and 13.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Pelham?
Pelham’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Pelham”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Pelham.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.