Photo: Hunter Trick (TrickHunter) · CC BY-SA 4.0Tempe reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Tempe’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #49 of 55 graded towns in Arizona, and #217 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of AZ” is every other Arizona 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 Tempe
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Arizona towns on Tempe’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Chandler (B−), Scottsdale (C), Mesa (C−), Phoenix (D). Guadalupe has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Tempe’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 4.6 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Arizona (5.1) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Arizona
63.6 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (113 reported in 2025), below the rest of Arizona (72.2) 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, Tempe reports less crime per resident than 33% (#217). Places like it ↓
A college town
Tempe is home to Arizona State University Campus Immersion, with 75,603 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 20% 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
Tempe has 232,117 jobs based in town for 190,571 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 Tempe’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
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 Arizona.
Show as a table
| Year | Tempe property | Rest of Arizona property | Tempe violent | Rest of Arizona violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.3 | 21.5 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 35.7 | 19.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 28.9 | 19.2 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
| 2025 | 26.9 | 15.9 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 27 property crimes reported
And about 4 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.
Homicides and robberies
Tempe’s police reported 9 homicides, 113 robberies and 802 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Arizona and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Tempe | Rest of Arizona | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.7 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Tempe | Rest of Arizona | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 94.9 | 90.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 65.4 | 78.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 66.4 | 79.4 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 59.1 | 59.5 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
5,940 crimes reported in 2025
802 violent and 5,138 property, as reported to the FBI by Tempe’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
110 people died in crashes on Tempe’s roads in 2019–2023
Tempe had 105 fatal crashes in five years, in which 110 people died; 26 were pedestrians and 9 were cyclists. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Arizona towns of 100,000+ people (8.8, 14 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.
Tempe 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. Guadalupe has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
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 Tempe. 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 Tempe’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (191,348 in 2025); our figure for Tempe is 190,571 (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 Tempe
Is Tempe, AZ safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Tempe reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #49 of 55 in Arizona. Its police reported 4.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Arizona and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Tempe?
4.6 violent and 30.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Arizona reports 4.3 and 18.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Tempe?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Tempe in 2025?
Tempe’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Tempe safer than Phoenix?
Phoenix reports more crime per resident than Tempe: Phoenix grades D for safety and Tempe D. Phoenix’s police reported 7.6 violent and 22.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Tempe?
Tempe’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Tempe”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Tempe.
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.