Foster Auditorium, The University of Alabama · Photo: Ttownfeen · Public domainTuscaloosa has more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
All 3 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Even so, the graded rate fell 19% from 2023 to 2025. From 2023 to 2025, crimes Tuscaloosa’s police reported put it at D for safety: #94 of 130 graded towns in Alabama, and #212 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Violence and property crime split as 5.3 violent crimes and 26.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 4.7 and 21.1 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 Tuscaloosa
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Alabama towns on Tuscaloosa’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Vance (B), Brookwood (C), Northport (C). Holt and Cottondale are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among Alabama towns, closer to the middle
Alabama’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Tuscaloosa’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 28% of the 130 Alabama towns we grade, against 11% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Tuscaloosa’s police reported 15 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 13.6 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of Alabama (12.2) and 2.4 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of Alabama
60.7 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (65 reported in 2025), above the rest of Alabama (49.8) 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, Tuscaloosa reports less crime per resident than 35% (#212). Places like it ↓
A college town
Tuscaloosa is home to The University of Alabama, with 33,624 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 28% 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 ↓
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 Tuscaloosa’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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Tuscaloosa | Rest of Alabama | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.8 | 14.4 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 12.3 | 13.3 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 15.8 | 11.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Tuscaloosa | Rest of Alabama | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 59.2 | 49.8 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 66.7 | 50.3 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 59.7 | 53.6 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 55.8 | 45.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Tuscaloosa’s police reported 15 homicides, 65 robberies and 550 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Tuscaloosa property | Rest of Alabama property | Tuscaloosa violent | Rest of Alabama violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 28.8 | 24.7 | 6.4 | 5.3 |
| 2023 | 29.4 | 22.0 | 5.6 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 27.3 | 21.5 | 5.5 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 23.7 | 19.8 | 4.7 | 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 Tuscaloosa 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 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
3,310 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.
550 violent and 2,760 property, as reported to the FBI by Tuscaloosa’s police.
73 people died in crashes on Tuscaloosa’s roads in 2019–2023
Tuscaloosa had 66 fatal crashes in five years, in which 73 people died; 12 were pedestrians. 19 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 13.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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.
Tuscaloosa and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscaloosa | D | 5.3 | 26.8 |
| Holt | — | — | — |
| Northport | C | 3.9 | 15.2 |
| Cottondale | — | — | — |
| Vance | B | 1.9 | 5.7 |
| Brookwood | C | 3.6 | 11.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Holt and Cottondale are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Alabama towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscaloosa | D | 5.3 | 26.8 |
| Auburn | B | 1.3 | 9.9 |
| Hoover | B | 0.7 | 12.4 |
| Madison | B− | 1.6 | 10.7 |
| Montgomery | C− | 4.6 | 18.7 |
| Dothan | D | 8.8 | 28.9 |
The five graded Alabama towns closest to Tuscaloosa’s population (114,316), 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 Tuscaloosa. 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 Tuscaloosa’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (116,588 in 2025); our figure for Tuscaloosa is 114,316 (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 Tuscaloosa
Is Tuscaloosa, AL safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Tuscaloosa reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #94 of 130 in Alabama. Its police reported 5.3 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 Tuscaloosa?
5.3 violent and 26.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Alabama reports 4.7 and 21.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Tuscaloosa in 2025?
Tuscaloosa’s police reported 15 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 12.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Tuscaloosa safer than Northport?
Northport reports less crime per resident than Tuscaloosa: Northport grades C for safety and Tuscaloosa D. Northport’s police reported 3.9 violent and 15.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Tuscaloosa?
Tuscaloosa’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Tuscaloosa”. 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 Tuscaloosa.
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.