Jefferson Historic District · Photo: Hhoschton · CC BY-SA 3.0For violent crime, Jefferson beats 89% of U.S. towns per resident
Both towns on its borders with figures record more crime per resident. On top of that, the rate the grade counts dropped 41% from 2023 to 2025. The Safety Grade comes out at A, drawn from crimes Jefferson’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #6 of 132 graded towns in Georgia. The yearly rates were 0.4 violent crime and 4.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 3.9 and 21.6 in the rest of Georgia.
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 Jefferson
Jefferson reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 Georgia towns on Jefferson’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Pendergrass (A−), Arcade (C+). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Jefferson has 13,593 jobs based in town for 17,185 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 Jefferson’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Jefferson property | Rest of Georgia property | Jefferson violent | Rest of Georgia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.8 | 24.8 | 0.5 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 6.2 | 25.4 | 0.6 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 4.6 | 21.6 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 3.8 | 18.1 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
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 Georgia.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Jefferson | Rest of Georgia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.5 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.2 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Jefferson’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Georgia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Jefferson 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
70 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.
4 violent and 66 property, as reported to the FBI by Jefferson’s police.
Nine people died in crashes on Jefferson’s roads in 2019–2023
Jefferson had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which nine people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 Jefferson’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Jefferson’s own rate (12.0) 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.
Jefferson and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | A | 0.4 | 4.8 |
| Pendergrass | A− | 1.1 | 4.3 |
| Arcade | C+ | 2.0 | 16.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Georgia towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | A | 0.4 | 4.8 |
| Port Wentworth | B | 1.6 | 10.4 |
| Fairburn | B− | 1.8 | 12.1 |
| Monroe | C | 3.4 | 18.2 |
| Covington | D | 5.3 | 35.9 |
| Milledgeville | D | 6.6 | 32.7 |
The five graded Georgia towns closest to Jefferson’s population (17,185), 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 Jefferson. 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 Jefferson’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (17,339 in 2025); our figure for Jefferson is 17,185 (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 Jefferson
Is Jefferson, GA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Jefferson reports less crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #6 of 132 in Georgia. Its police reported 0.4 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 Jefferson?
0.4 violent and 4.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Georgia reports 3.9 and 21.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Jefferson safer than Pendergrass?
Pendergrass reports more crime per resident than Jefferson: Pendergrass grades A− for safety and Jefferson A. Pendergrass’s police reported 1.1 violent and 4.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Jefferson?
Jefferson’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Jefferson”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Jefferson.
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.