Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Thornton reports more crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Thornton’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #55 of 87 graded towns in Colorado, and #158 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Thornton
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 Colorado towns on Thornton’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Broomfield (C+), Northglenn (D), Westminster (D), Commerce City (D). Todd Creek, Welby and Sherrelwood are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Federal Heights reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
Among Colorado towns, closer to the middle
Colorado’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Thornton’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 37% of the 87 Colorado towns we grade, against 18% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Thornton’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 2.1 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Colorado (5.4) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Colorado
47.5 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (46 reported in 2025), below the rest of Colorado (77.8) 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, Thornton reports less crime per resident than 51% (#158). 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 Thornton’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. Its violent rate (2.6) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
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 Colorado.
Show as a table
| Year | Thornton property | Rest of Colorado property | Thornton violent | Rest of Colorado violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 34.8 | 39.3 | 2.9 | 6.3 |
| 2023 | 29.8 | 35.6 | 2.8 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 28.4 | 31.8 | 2.7 | 5.9 |
| 2025 | 22.5 | 26.2 | 2.4 | 5.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Thornton’s police reported 2 homicides, 46 robberies and 360 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Thornton | Rest of Colorado | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.1 | 7.9 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 3.5 | 6.7 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 1.4 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Thornton | Rest of Colorado | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 64.3 | 101 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 62.6 | 87.1 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 49.4 | 83.8 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 31.1 | 62.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 23 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
3,683 crimes reported in 2025
360 violent and 3,323 property, as reported to the FBI by Thornton’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
47 people died in crashes on Thornton’s roads in 2019–2023
Thornton had 42 fatal crashes in five years, in which 47 people died; 7 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 8 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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.
Thornton and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | C− | 2.6 | 26.9 |
| Northglenn | D | 4.5 | 27.2 |
| Todd Creek | — | — | — |
| Welby | — | — | — |
| Commerce City | D | 7.7 | 27.3 |
| Sherrelwood | — | — | — |
| Broomfield | C+ | 1.5 | 18.7 |
| Federal Heights | — | — | — |
| Westminster | D | 3.0 | 33.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Todd Creek, Welby and Sherrelwood are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Federal Heights reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
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 Thornton. 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 Thornton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (147,837 in 2025); our figure for Thornton is 147,766 (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 Thornton
Is Thornton, CO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Thornton reports more crime per resident than 82% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #55 of 87 in Colorado. Its police reported 2.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.7 in the rest of Colorado and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Thornton?
2.6 violent and 26.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Colorado reports 5.7 and 31.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Thornton?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Thornton in 2025?
Thornton’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Thornton safer than Northglenn?
Northglenn reports more crime per resident than Thornton: Northglenn grades D for safety and Thornton C−. Northglenn’s police reported 4.5 violent and 27.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Thornton?
Thornton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Thornton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Thornton.
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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.