Photo: Ralf Roletschek - Infos über Fahrräder auf fahrradmonteur.de Wikis in der Ausbildung · CC BY-SA 3.0Washington reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Washington’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #288 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. No other District of Columbia city or town is in the FBI’s tables for these years, so there is no rest-of-state figure; 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 Washington
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Washington’s police reported 115 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 26.9 per 100,000 residents a year, 4.7 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 5.5 times U.S. cities overall
437 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (2,197 reported in 2025), 5.5 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, Washington reports less crime per resident than 11% (#288). Places like it ↓
A job center
Washington has 625,202 jobs based in town for 693,645 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 Washington’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Homicides and robberies
Washington’s police reported 115 homicides, 2,197 robberies and 5,180 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Washington | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.3 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 38.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 25.5 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 16.6 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Washington | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 324 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 558 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 439 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 317 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Washington | Washington |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 34.8 | 7.4 |
| 2023 | 41.6 | 10.5 |
| 2024 | 35.9 | 9.3 |
| 2025 | 30.7 | 7.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 31 property crimes reported
And about 8 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.
26,476 crimes reported in 2025
5,180 violent and 21,296 property, as reported to the FBI by Washington’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
59 of the 165 people who died in crashes on Washington’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Washington had 152 fatal crashes in five years, in which 165 people died. 10 of those killed were cyclists. 13 died in crashes on an Interstate.
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Washington has the 5th lowest rate.
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.
Washington and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | D− | 9.1 | 36.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 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 Washington. 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 Washington’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (693,645 in 2025); our figure for Washington is 693,645 (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 Washington
Is Washington, DC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Washington reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 9.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Washington?
9.1 violent and 36.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Washington?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Washington in 2025?
Washington’s police reported 115 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 16.6 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Washington?
Washington’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Washington”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Washington.
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.