Photo: Lincolnh · CC BY-SA 3.0Decatur reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, Decatur grades C for safety (#58 of 132 graded towns in Georgia): more crime per resident than 66% 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 GA” is every other Georgia 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 Decatur
Decatur reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 6 Georgia towns on Decatur’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Atlanta (D). North Decatur, Belvedere Park, Druid Hills and Scottdale are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Avondale Estates reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
Among Georgia towns, closer to the middle
Georgia’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Decatur’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 56% of the 132 Georgia towns we grade, against 34% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Decatur’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Decatur’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Decatur’s police reported 84 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Georgia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Decatur | Rest of Georgia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 19 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Georgia.
Show as a table
| Year | Decatur property | Rest of Georgia property | Decatur violent | Rest of Georgia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.2 | 24.7 | 1.3 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 23.2 | 25.4 | 0.9 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 22.7 | 21.5 | 1.3 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 18.5 | 18.0 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
482 crimes reported in 2025
31 violent and 451 property, as reported to the FBI by Decatur’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Decatur’s roads in 2019–2023
Decatur had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is fewer than is typical for Georgia towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (11.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Decatur’s size would see about 13 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Decatur’s own rate (4.1) 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.
Decatur and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | C | 1.2 | 21.4 |
| North Decatur | — | — | — |
| Belvedere Park | — | — | — |
| Druid Hills | — | — | — |
| Atlanta | D | 6.8 | 35.1 |
| Scottdale | — | — | — |
| Avondale Estates | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. North Decatur, Belvedere Park, Druid Hills and Scottdale are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Avondale Estates 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 Decatur. 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 Decatur’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (24,379 in 2025); our figure for Decatur is 25,276 (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 Decatur
Is Decatur, GA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Decatur reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #58 of 132 in Georgia. Its police reported 1.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Georgia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Decatur?
1.2 violent and 21.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Georgia reports 3.9 and 21.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Decatur?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Decatur in 2025?
Decatur’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Decatur safer than Atlanta?
Atlanta reports more crime per resident than Decatur: Atlanta grades D for safety and Decatur C. Atlanta’s police reported 6.8 violent and 35.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Decatur?
Decatur’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Decatur”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Decatur.
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.