Stone House · Photo: Xnatedawgx · CC BY-SA 3.0Lakewood sees more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
It has more violent crime than 95% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 98%. What’s more, from 2023 to 2025, crimes Lakewood’s police reported put it at D− for safety: #78 of 87 graded towns in Colorado, and #294 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Annual rates stand at 7.3 violent crimes and 47.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 5.5 and 30.4 in the rest of Colorado. The crimes the grade counts held steady per resident from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of CO” is every other Colorado 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 Lakewood
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 Colorado towns on Lakewood’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Golden (C), Wheat Ridge (D), Denver (D−), Edgewater (D−). Applewood, Dakota Ridge and West Pleasant View are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Lakewood’s police reported 8 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 5.5 per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the rest of Colorado (5.3) and about the same as all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 1.8 times the rest of Colorado
136 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (190 reported in 2025), 1.8 times the rest of Colorado (74.5) and 1.7 times 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, Lakewood reports less crime per resident than 10% (#294). Places like 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 Lakewood’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.
Crime in Lakewood 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 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Lakewood | Rest of Colorado | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 9.0 | 6.5 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Lakewood | Rest of Colorado | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 182 | 96.1 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 148 | 83.9 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 138 | 80.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 121 | 59.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Lakewood’s police reported 8 homicides, 190 robberies and 1,055 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Colorado and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lakewood property | Rest of Colorado property | Lakewood violent | Rest of Colorado violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 53.2 | 38.6 | 8.1 | 6.1 |
| 2023 | 46.2 | 35.0 | 7.2 | 5.8 |
| 2024 | 50.9 | 31.0 | 7.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 44.5 | 25.4 | 6.7 | 4.9 |
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 Colorado.
8,037 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.
1,055 violent and 6,982 property, as reported to the FBI by Lakewood’s police.
88 people died in crashes on Lakewood’s roads in 2019–2023
Lakewood had 84 fatal crashes in five years, in which 88 people died; 23 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 5 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Colorado towns of 100,000+ people (6.5, 13 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.
Lakewood and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewood | D− | 7.3 | 47.2 |
| Applewood | — | — | — |
| Denver | D− | 9.6 | 48.6 |
| Dakota Ridge | — | — | — |
| Edgewater | D− | 3.0 | 81.5 |
| West Pleasant View | — | — | — |
| Wheat Ridge | D | 3.9 | 42.9 |
| Golden | C | 1.4 | 23.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Applewood, Dakota Ridge and West Pleasant View are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Colorado towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewood | D− | 7.3 | 47.2 |
| Fort Collins | C− | 2.9 | 21.1 |
| Arvada | C− | 2.7 | 24.5 |
| Thornton | C− | 2.6 | 26.9 |
| Westminster | D | 3.0 | 33.4 |
| Greeley | D | 6.4 | 29.2 |
The five graded Colorado towns closest to Lakewood’s population (156,927), 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 Lakewood. 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 Lakewood’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (157,016 in 2025); our figure for Lakewood is 156,927 (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 Lakewood
Is Lakewood, CO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lakewood reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #78 of 87 in Colorado. Its police reported 7.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.5 in the rest of Colorado and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lakewood?
7.3 violent and 47.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Colorado reports 5.5 and 30.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Lakewood in 2025?
Lakewood’s police reported 8 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lakewood safer than Denver?
Denver reports more crime per resident than Lakewood: Denver grades D− for safety and Lakewood D−. Denver’s police reported 9.6 violent and 48.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lakewood?
Lakewood’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lakewood”. 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 Lakewood.
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.