Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Crime per resident in Arkansas City runs higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
Year on year, 4.8 violent crimes and 24.6 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 4.8 and 22.4 in the rest of Kansas. Its letter for safety is D, worked out from crimes Arkansas City’s police reported over 2023 to 2025: #65 of 80 graded towns in Kansas. The graded rate fell 21% from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of KS” is every other Kansas 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 Arkansas City
A college town
Arkansas City is home to Cowley County Community College, with 1,435 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 9% 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 ↓
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 Arkansas City’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Arkansas City property | Rest of Kansas property | Arkansas City violent | Rest of Kansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 28.9 | 24.2 | 5.9 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 21.7 | 20.2 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 23.0 | 22.8 | 4.4 | 5.5 |
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 Kansas.
Crime in Arkansas City 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 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Arkansas City | Rest of Kansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Arkansas City’s police reported 168 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of Kansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
320 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.
51 violent and 269 property, as reported to the FBI by Arkansas City’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Arkansas City’s roads in 2019–2023
Arkansas City had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what is typical for Kansas towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Arkansas City’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Arkansas City’s own rate (3.4) 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.
Arkansas City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas City | D | 4.8 | 24.6 |
| Creswell Township | — | — | — |
| Bolton Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Creswell Township and Bolton Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Kansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas City | D | 4.8 | 24.6 |
| Lansing | B+ | 1.5 | 5.8 |
| Ottawa | C+ | 2.0 | 14.1 |
| El Dorado | C+ | 2.7 | 13.6 |
| Winfield | C− | 2.9 | 28.7 |
| Merriam | D− | 4.5 | 52.7 |
The five graded Kansas towns closest to Arkansas City’s population (11,800), 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 Arkansas City. 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 Arkansas City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,711 in 2025); our figure for Arkansas City is 11,800 (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 Arkansas City
Is Arkansas City, KS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Arkansas City reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #65 of 80 in Kansas. Its police reported 4.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of Kansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Arkansas City?
4.8 violent and 24.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Kansas reports 4.8 and 22.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Arkansas City?
Arkansas City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Arkansas City”. 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 Arkansas City.
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.