Photo: ArtisticAbode · CC BY-SA 3.0Cedar Rapids reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Cedar Rapids’ police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #92 of 105 graded towns in Iowa, and #152 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of IA” is every other Iowa 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 Cedar Rapids
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Iowa towns on Cedar Rapids’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Marion (B+), Hiawatha (C). Robins reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Fairfax has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Cedar Rapids’ police reported 4 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.2 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of Iowa (2.4) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: about the same as the rest of Iowa
28.1 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (33 reported in 2025), about the same as the rest of Iowa (28.1) 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, Cedar Rapids reports less crime per resident than 53% (#152). Places like it ↓
A job center
Cedar Rapids has 94,098 jobs based in town for 137,935 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 Cedar Rapids’ 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 (2.7) 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 Iowa.
Show as a table
| Year | Cedar Rapids property | Rest of Iowa property | Cedar Rapids violent | Rest of Iowa violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30.5 | 18.2 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 28.8 | 19.4 | 3.0 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 26.9 | 17.3 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 21.1 | 15.5 | 2.6 | 3.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Cedar Rapids’ police reported 4 homicides, 33 robberies and 362 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Iowa and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Cedar Rapids | Rest of Iowa | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.4 | 1.9 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.9 | 3.0 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Cedar Rapids | Rest of Iowa | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 40.6 | 30.5 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 30.2 | 34.1 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 30.3 | 28.2 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 23.9 | 22.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 21 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
3,275 crimes reported in 2025
362 violent and 2,913 property, as reported to the FBI by Cedar Rapids’ police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
46 people died in crashes on Cedar Rapids’s roads in 2019–2023
Cedar Rapids had 40 fatal crashes in five years, in which 46 people died; 5 were pedestrians. 11 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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.
Cedar Rapids and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | C− | 2.7 | 25.6 |
| Marion | B+ | 1.6 | 5.7 |
| Hiawatha | C | 3.9 | 11.4 |
| Robins | — | — | — |
| Fairfax | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Robins reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Fairfax has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Iowa towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | C− | 2.7 | 25.6 |
| Ankeny | B− | 1.5 | 10.8 |
| Iowa City | C | 3.1 | 17.2 |
| Sioux City | D | 5.4 | 32.2 |
| Des Moines | D | 6.8 | 31.0 |
| Davenport | D | 6.4 | 35.0 |
The five graded Iowa towns closest to Cedar Rapids’ population (137,935), by grade.
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 Cedar Rapids. 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 Cedar Rapids’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (137,918 in 2025); our figure for Cedar Rapids is 137,935 (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 Cedar Rapids
Is Cedar Rapids, IA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cedar Rapids reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #92 of 105 in Iowa. Its police reported 2.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Iowa and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Cedar Rapids?
2.7 violent and 25.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Iowa reports 3.3 and 17.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Cedar Rapids?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Cedar Rapids in 2025?
Cedar Rapids’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Cedar Rapids safer than Marion?
Marion reports less crime per resident than Cedar Rapids: Marion grades B+ for safety and Cedar Rapids C−. Marion’s police reported 1.6 violent and 5.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cedar Rapids?
Cedar Rapids’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cedar Rapids”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Cedar Rapids.
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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.