Sears House · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Reported crime per resident in Ward fell 35% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Ward grades C for safety (#43 of 105 graded towns in Arkansas): more crime per resident than 71% 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 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 Ward
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 Arkansas towns on Ward’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Austin (B+). Neighbors ↓
Among Arkansas towns, closer to the middle
Arkansas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Ward’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 59% of the 105 Arkansas towns we grade, against 29% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Ward’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Ward’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Ward property | Rest of Arkansas property | Ward violent | Rest of Arkansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.5 | 31.4 | 6.9 | 7.8 |
| 2023 | 13.3 | 28.9 | 6.7 | 7.5 |
| 2024 | 10.7 | 24.8 | 2.8 | 6.9 |
| 2025 | 8.4 | 20.5 | 4.7 | 6.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 5 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Ward’s police reported 100 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 6.9 in the rest of Arkansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Ward | Rest of Arkansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.8 | 6.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.7 | 6.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
95 crimes reported in 2025
34 violent and 61 property, as reported to the FBI by Ward’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Ward’s roads in 2019–2023
Ward had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two 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 Ward’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Ward’s own rate (6.1) 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.
Ward and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Arkansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | C | 4.7 | 10.8 |
| Heber Springs | C | 3.1 | 17.1 |
| Pocahontas | C− | 4.4 | 22.0 |
| Morrilton | D | 4.6 | 32.7 |
| Trumann | D− | 10.8 | 27.1 |
| Stuttgart | D− | 12.9 | 26.1 |
The five graded Arkansas towns closest to Ward’s population (7,258), 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 Ward. 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 Ward’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,277 in 2025); our figure for Ward is 7,258 (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 Ward
Is Ward, AR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Ward reports more crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #43 of 105 in Arkansas. Its police reported 4.7 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 Ward?
4.7 violent and 10.8 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.
Is crime going up or down in Ward?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Ward safer than Austin?
Austin reports less crime per resident than Ward: Austin grades B+ for safety and Ward C. Austin’s police reported 1.3 violent and 5.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Ward?
Ward’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Ward”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Ward.
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.