Photo: Photolitherland Chris Litherland · CC BY 3.0On violent crime, Walnut Ridge has a higher rate per resident than 84% of U.S. towns
Each year brought 4.3 violent crimes and 8.8 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (6.9 and 24.7 in the rest of Arkansas). In sum, crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025 put Walnut Ridge at C (#31 of 105 graded towns in Arkansas): more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns.
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 Walnut Ridge
Among Arkansas towns, closer to the middle
Arkansas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Walnut Ridge’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 70% of the 105 Arkansas towns we grade, against 34% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Walnut Ridge’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Walnut Ridge’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down.
Crime in Walnut Ridge 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Walnut Ridge | Rest of Arkansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 7.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.8 | 7.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 6.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Walnut Ridge’s police reported 72 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.9 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Walnut Ridge property | Rest of Arkansas property | Walnut Ridge violent | Rest of Arkansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.5 | 31.4 | 3.3 | 7.8 |
| 2023 | 12.1 | 28.9 | 3.8 | 7.5 |
| 2024 | 7.4 | 24.8 | 4.5 | 6.9 |
| 2025 | 6.9 | 20.5 | 4.7 | 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.
64 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.
26 violent and 38 property, as reported to the FBI by Walnut Ridge’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Walnut Ridge’s roads in 2019–2023
Walnut Ridge had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died.
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 Walnut Ridge’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Walnut Ridge’s own rate (14.7) 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.
Walnut Ridge and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Ridge | C | 4.3 | 8.8 |
| Hoxie | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hoxie reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
Arkansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Ridge | C | 4.3 | 8.8 |
| White Hall | B− | 2.5 | 9.4 |
| Sheridan | C | 3.8 | 10.9 |
| Barling | C | 3.4 | 13.0 |
| Berryville | C | 2.2 | 20.6 |
| Mena | C− | 3.2 | 28.3 |
The five graded Arkansas towns closest to Walnut Ridge’s population (5,478), 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 Walnut Ridge. 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 Walnut Ridge’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,535 in 2025); our figure for Walnut Ridge is 5,478 (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 Walnut Ridge
Is Walnut Ridge, AR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Walnut Ridge reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #31 of 105 in Arkansas. Its police reported 4.3 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 Walnut Ridge?
4.3 violent and 8.8 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 Walnut Ridge?
Walnut Ridge’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Walnut Ridge”. 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 Walnut Ridge.
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.