Photo: ONUnicorn · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Lawrence fell 44% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Lawrence grades C for safety (#67 of 91 graded towns in Indiana): more crime per resident than 70% 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 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 Lawrence
Lawrence reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 Indiana towns on Lawrence’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Indianapolis (D). Buck Creek Township and Lawrence Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
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 Lawrence’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.9) 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. Its property rate (17.2) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) 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 Indiana.
Show as a table
| Year | Lawrence property | Rest of Indiana property | Lawrence violent | Rest of Indiana violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.8 | 23.2 | 3.3 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 22.6 | 22.2 | 3.2 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 17.3 | 20.3 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
| 2025 | 11.8 | 15.0 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lawrence’s police reported 426 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Lawrence | Rest of Indiana | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 4.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
714 crimes reported in 2025
126 violent and 588 property, as reported to the FBI by Lawrence’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
25 people died in crashes on Lawrence’s roads in 2019–2023
Lawrence had 23 fatal crashes in five years, in which 25 people died; 3 were pedestrians and 3 were cyclists. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 10.1 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.
Lawrence and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | C | 2.9 | 17.2 |
| Indianapolis | D | 8.3 | 30.0 |
| Buck Creek Township | — | — | — |
| Lawrence Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Buck Creek Township and Lawrence Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Indiana towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | C | 2.9 | 17.2 |
| Columbus | A | 0.4 | 4.7 |
| West Lafayette | B | 0.8 | 11.2 |
| Mishawaka | C− | 2.6 | 24.1 |
| Anderson | C− | 4.1 | 23.5 |
| Terre Haute | D | 5.1 | 35.1 |
The five graded Indiana towns closest to Lawrence’s population (50,420), 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 Lawrence. 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 Lawrence’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (49,937 in 2025); our figure for Lawrence is 50,420 (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 Lawrence
Is Lawrence, IN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lawrence reports more crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #67 of 91 in Indiana. Its police reported 2.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lawrence?
2.9 violent and 17.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Indiana reports 4.3 and 19.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Lawrence?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lawrence in 2025?
Lawrence’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lawrence safer than Indianapolis?
Indianapolis reports more crime per resident than Lawrence: Indianapolis grades D for safety and Lawrence C. Indianapolis’s police reported 8.3 violent and 30.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lawrence?
Lawrence’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lawrence”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lawrence.
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.