Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Helena-West Helena reports more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
It has more violent crime than 99% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 93%. Behind the grade sit 14.8 violent crimes and 33.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 6.8 and 24.6 in the rest of Arkansas. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at D−, drawn from crimes Helena-West Helena’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #101 of 105 graded towns in Arkansas.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of AR” is every other Arkansas 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 Helena-West Helena
A college town
Helena-West Helena is home to Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, with 1,242 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 2% 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 ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Helena-West Helena’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Helena-West Helena | Rest of Arkansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.6 | 7.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 12.1 | 7.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 16.3 | 6.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 15.9 | 6.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Helena-West Helena’s police reported 372 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 14.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.8 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Helena-West Helena 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 16 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Helena-West Helena property | Rest of Arkansas property | Helena-West Helena violent | Rest of Arkansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 34.0 | 31.3 | 16.6 | 7.8 |
| 2023 | 38.3 | 28.8 | 12.1 | 7.5 |
| 2024 | 34.4 | 24.7 | 16.3 | 6.8 |
| 2025 | 28.7 | 20.5 | 15.9 | 6.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Arkansas.
367 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 236 property, as reported to the FBI by Helena-West Helena’s police.
10 people died in crashes on Helena-West Helena’s roads in 2019–2023
Helena-West Helena had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 3 were pedestrians.
That is 22.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Arkansas towns of 5,000–25,000 people (10.1, 52 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.
Helena-West Helena and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helena-West Helena | D− | 14.8 | 33.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Arkansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helena-West Helena | D− | 14.8 | 33.9 |
| Tontitown | B+ | 1.3 | 6.8 |
| Monticello | C− | 5.3 | 15.7 |
| Newport | D | 6.5 | 17.0 |
| Hope | D− | 8.9 | 31.8 |
| Wynne | D− | 8.9 | 30.6 |
The five graded Arkansas towns closest to Helena-West Helena’s population (8,216), 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 Helena-West Helena. 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 Helena-West Helena’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,217 in 2025); our figure for Helena-West Helena is 8,216 (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 Helena-West Helena
Is Helena-West Helena, AR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Helena-West Helena reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #101 of 105 in Arkansas. Its police reported 14.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.8 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Helena-West Helena?
14.8 violent and 33.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Arkansas reports 6.8 and 24.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Helena-West Helena?
Helena-West Helena’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Helena-West Helena”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Helena-West Helena.
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.