Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0On violent crime, Monticello has a higher rate per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
Out of every 1,000 residents, 5.3 violent crimes and 15.7 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 6.9 and 24.7 in the rest of Arkansas. Weighing it all, Monticello earns C− for safety (#55 of 105 graded towns in Arkansas), with more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. The crimes the grade counts fell 35% per resident from 2023 to 2025.
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 Monticello
Among Arkansas towns, closer to the middle
Arkansas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Monticello’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 48% of the 105 Arkansas towns we grade, against 19% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Monticello is home to the University of Arkansas at Monticello, with 2,003 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 14% 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 ↓
A job center
Monticello has 5,202 jobs based in town for 8,269 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Monticello’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 property rate (15.7) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Monticello property | Rest of Arkansas property | Monticello violent | Rest of Arkansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.0 | 31.4 | 5.1 | 7.8 |
| 2023 | 21.4 | 28.9 | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| 2024 | 12.4 | 24.8 | 5.4 | 6.9 |
| 2025 | 13.4 | 20.5 | 4.4 | 6.2 |
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 Arkansas.
Crime in Monticello 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Monticello | Rest of Arkansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 6.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Monticello’s police reported 128 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.9 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
145 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.
36 violent and 109 property, as reported to the FBI by Monticello’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Monticello’s roads in 2019–2023
Monticello had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Arkansas towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (10.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Monticello’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Monticello’s own rate (9.7) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Monticello and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello | C− | 5.3 | 15.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Arkansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello | C− | 5.3 | 15.7 |
| Tontitown | B+ | 1.3 | 6.8 |
| Newport | D | 6.5 | 17.0 |
| Hope | D− | 8.9 | 31.8 |
| Wynne | D− | 8.9 | 30.6 |
| Helena-West Helena | D− | 14.8 | 33.9 |
The five graded Arkansas towns closest to Monticello’s population (8,269), 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 Monticello. 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 Monticello’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,127 in 2025); our figure for Monticello is 8,269 (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 Monticello
Is Monticello, AR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Monticello reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #55 of 105 in Arkansas. Its police reported 5.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.9 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Monticello?
5.3 violent and 15.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Arkansas reports 6.9 and 24.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Monticello?
Monticello’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Monticello”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Monticello.
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.