Photo: NASA · Public domainMore crimes per resident are recorded in Elwood than in 98% of U.S. towns
Scored on crimes Elwood’s police reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on D− for safety. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 41% from 2023 to 2025. Each year brought 11.2 violent crimes and 42.0 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (4.8 and 22.4 in the rest of Kansas).
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 Elwood
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 Elwood’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 | Elwood property | Rest of Kansas property | Elwood violent | Rest of Kansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 50.3 | 24.2 | 16.2 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 39.1 | 20.2 | 15.1 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 36.7 | 22.8 | 2.6 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of Kansas.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Elwood | Rest of Kansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 16.2 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 15.1 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 5.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Elwood’s police reported 38 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 11.2 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 Elwood 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
45 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.
3 violent and 42 property, as reported to the FBI by Elwood’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Elwood’s roads in 2019–2023
Elwood had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
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 Elwood’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Elwood’s own rate (38.1) 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.
Elwood and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Wathena has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Kansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elwood | D− | 11.2 | 42.0 |
| Pleasanton | B+ | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| Horton | B− | 1.6 | 12.5 |
| Cherryvale | D | 5.7 | 21.7 |
| Westwood | D | 2.1 | 36.7 |
| Fredonia | D | 3.4 | 36.0 |
The five graded Kansas towns closest to Elwood’s population (1,137), 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 Elwood. 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 Elwood’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,143 in 2025); our figure for Elwood is 1,137 (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 Elwood
Is Elwood, KS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Elwood reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 11.2 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 Elwood?
11.2 violent and 42.0 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 Elwood?
Elwood’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Elwood”. 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 Elwood.
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.