Photo: Erinmcd · CC BY 2.5Newton records more violent crime per head than 94% of U.S. towns
All told, Newton grades D for safety (#65 of 80 graded towns in Kansas): more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Year on year, 6.9 violent crimes and 16.9 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 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’s behind Newton’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. Its property rate (16.9) 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 | Newton | Rest of Kansas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.4 | 4.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.2 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.2 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 7.3 | 5.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Newton’s police reported 376 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.9 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 Newton 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 7 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 | Newton property | Rest of Kansas property | Newton violent | Rest of Kansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.8 | 24.3 | 6.4 | 4.9 |
| 2023 | 19.9 | 24.2 | 7.2 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 16.7 | 20.2 | 6.2 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 14.1 | 22.9 | 7.3 | 5.4 |
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.
391 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.
133 violent and 258 property, as reported to the FBI by Newton’s police.
Seven people died in crashes on Newton’s roads in 2019–2023
Newton had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died. 3 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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 Newton’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Newton’s own rate (7.6) 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.
Newton and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newton | D | 6.9 | 16.9 |
| Newton Township | — | — | — |
| North Newton | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Newton Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. North Newton reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025.
Kansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newton | D | 6.9 | 16.9 |
| Prairie Village | B+ | 0.8 | 9.6 |
| Liberal | C+ | 2.8 | 10.4 |
| Great Bend | C | 3.6 | 14.8 |
| Pittsburg | D | 3.6 | 34.5 |
| Junction City | D | 7.1 | 24.0 |
The five graded Kansas towns closest to Newton’s population (18,353), 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 Newton. 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 Newton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,257 in 2025); our figure for Newton is 18,353 (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 Newton
Is Newton, KS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Newton reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #65 of 80 in Kansas. Its police reported 6.9 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 Newton?
6.9 violent and 16.9 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 Newton?
Newton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Newton”. 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 Newton.
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.