John E. and Catherine E. Christian House (Samara) · Photo: Tim Musson · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, West Lafayette records less violent crime than 73% of U.S. towns
Weighing it all, West Lafayette earns B for safety (#40 of 91 graded towns in Indiana), with less crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. What’s more, typical years here bring 0.8 violent crime plus 11.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.4 plus 19.2 in the rest of Indiana.
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 West Lafayette
A college town
West Lafayette is home to Purdue University-Main Campus, with 48,436 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 63% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind West Lafayette’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds West Lafayette’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.2) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | West Lafayette | Rest of Indiana | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Lafayette’s police reported 115 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.4 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in West Lafayette 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 about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | West Lafayette property | Rest of Indiana property | West Lafayette violent | Rest of Indiana violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.2 | 23.4 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 11.8 | 22.3 | 0.6 | 4.9 |
| 2024 | 12.0 | 20.3 | 0.9 | 4.6 |
| 2025 | 9.9 | 15.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Indiana.
506 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.
45 violent and 461 property, as reported to the FBI by West Lafayette’s police.
Four people died in crashes on West Lafayette’s roads in 2019–2023
West Lafayette had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is fewer than is typical for Indiana towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (8.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of West Lafayette’s size would see about 18 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Lafayette’s own rate (1.8) 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.
West Lafayette and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Lafayette | B | 0.8 | 11.2 |
| Tippecanoe Township | — | — | — |
| Wabash Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Tippecanoe Township and Wabash Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Indiana towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Lafayette | B | 0.8 | 11.2 |
| Columbus | A | 0.4 | 4.7 |
| Portage | B− | 2.4 | 11.0 |
| Plainfield | C+ | 1.8 | 14.9 |
| Lawrence | C | 2.9 | 17.2 |
| Mishawaka | C− | 2.6 | 24.1 |
The five graded Indiana towns closest to West Lafayette’s population (45,747), 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 West Lafayette. 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 West Lafayette’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (46,768 in 2025); our figure for West Lafayette is 45,747 (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 West Lafayette
Is West Lafayette, IN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Lafayette reports less crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #40 of 91 in Indiana. Its police reported 0.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.4 in the rest of Indiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in West Lafayette?
0.8 violent and 11.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Indiana reports 4.4 and 19.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in West Lafayette in 2025?
West Lafayette’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.
Who polices West Lafayette?
West Lafayette’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Lafayette”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in West Lafayette.
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.