Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Gary reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Gary’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of IN” is every other Indiana 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 Gary
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Indiana towns on Gary’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: East Chicago (D), Hammond (D). Calumet Township, Lake Station, North Township, Hobart Township and Portage Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Ross is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Gary’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Gary’s police reported 2,445 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 12.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Gary | Rest of Indiana | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 9.0 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 13.5 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 13.9 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Reported crime is rising
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025, against the rest of Indiana.
Show as a table
| Year | Gary property | Rest of Indiana property | Gary violent | Rest of Indiana violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 28.3 | 22.1 | 9.0 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 33.6 | 20.0 | 13.5 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 29.7 | 14.7 | 13.9 | 3.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 30 property crimes reported
And about 14 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.
2,931 crimes reported in 2025
934 violent and 1,997 property, as reported to the FBI by Gary’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
98 people died in crashes on Gary’s roads in 2019–2023
Gary had 87 fatal crashes in five years, in which 98 people died; 15 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 18 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 28.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Indiana towns of 25,000–100,000 people (8.1, 86 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.
Gary and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gary | D− | 12.1 | 30.5 |
| Calumet Township | — | — | — |
| Lake Station | — | — | — |
| North Township | — | — | — |
| Hobart Township | — | — | — |
| Ross | — | — | — |
| Hammond | D | 6.6 | 29.8 |
| East Chicago | D | 7.3 | 17.0 |
| Portage Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Calumet Township, Lake Station, North Township, Hobart Township and Portage Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Ross is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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 Gary. 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 Gary’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (67,197 in 2025); our figure for Gary is 67,289 (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 Gary
Is Gary, IN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Gary reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 12.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.2 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Gary?
12.1 violent and 30.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Indiana reports 4.2 and 18.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Gary?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Gary in 2025?
Gary’s police reported 22 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 32.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Gary safer than Hammond?
Hammond reports less crime per resident than Gary: Hammond grades D for safety and Gary D−. Hammond’s police reported 6.6 violent and 29.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Gary?
Gary’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Gary”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Gary.
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.