Photo: Ian Ballinger · CC BY-SA 4.0Property crime per resident is lower in Baldwin City than in 62% of U.S. towns
Typical years here bring 1.8 violent crimes plus 8.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 4.8 plus 22.4 in the rest of Kansas. Overall, Baldwin City grades B for safety (#18 of 80 graded towns in Kansas): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Per resident, the graded rate barely moved 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 Baldwin City
Among Kansas towns, higher
Kansas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Baldwin City’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 78% of the 80 Kansas towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Baldwin City is home to Baker University, with 1,301 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 16% 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 Baldwin City’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Baldwin City’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (1.8) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Baldwin City | Rest of Kansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 5.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Baldwin City’s police reported 27 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.8 in the rest of Kansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Baldwin 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 2 violent crimes, 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 | Baldwin City property | Rest of Kansas property | Baldwin City violent | Rest of Kansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.1 | 24.4 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 6.9 | 24.3 | 1.6 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 11.5 | 20.2 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 6.2 | 22.9 | 2.2 | 5.5 |
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 Kansas.
42 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.
11 violent and 31 property, as reported to the FBI by Baldwin City’s police.
No one died in a crash on Baldwin City’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for Kansas towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (6.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Baldwin City’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Baldwin City’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Baldwin City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin City | B | 1.8 | 8.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Kansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin City | B | 1.8 | 8.2 |
| Ulysses | A | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Louisburg | B+ | 1.5 | 4.7 |
| Concordia | C+ | 2.7 | 10.7 |
| Edwardsville | C− | 4.3 | 15.2 |
| Iola | D | 5.8 | 26.8 |
The five graded Kansas towns closest to Baldwin City’s population (4,946), 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 Baldwin 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 Baldwin City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,028 in 2025); our figure for Baldwin City is 4,946 (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 Baldwin City
Is Baldwin City, KS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Baldwin City reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #18 of 80 in Kansas. Its police reported 1.8 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 Baldwin City?
1.8 violent and 8.2 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 Baldwin City?
Baldwin City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Baldwin City”. 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 Baldwin 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.