Photo: Srudisell · CC BY-SA 4.0Topeka reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Topeka’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #78 of 80 graded towns in Kansas, and #291 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Topeka
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Topeka’s police reported 21 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 17.8 per 100,000 residents a year, 4.2 times the rest of Kansas (4.2) and 3.1 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.5 times the rest of Kansas
89.0 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (107 reported in 2025), 2.5 times the rest of Kansas (35.6) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Topeka reports less crime per resident than 10% (#291). Places like it ↓
A job center
Topeka has 82,371 jobs based in town for 125,795 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. 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 Topeka’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.
Homicides and robberies
Topeka’s police reported 21 homicides, 107 robberies and 1,104 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Kansas and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Topeka | Rest of Kansas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.3 | 5.3 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 20.8 | 4.4 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 16.0 | 3.7 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 16.8 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Topeka | Rest of Kansas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 93.1 | 34.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 101 | 37.0 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 80.7 | 30.3 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 85.4 | 39.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 35 property crimes reported
And about 9 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Topeka property | Rest of Kansas property | Topeka violent | Rest of Kansas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 37.1 | 23.4 | 9.6 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 40.9 | 23.1 | 9.7 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 36.4 | 19.2 | 8.6 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 34.7 | 22.1 | 8.8 | 5.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5,446 crimes reported in 2025
1,104 violent and 4,342 property, as reported to the FBI by Topeka’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total. 2025 figures come from FBI Crime Data Explorer, which publishes violent crime, homicides, robberies and property crime only.
49 people died in crashes on Topeka’s roads in 2019–2023
Topeka had 47 fatal crashes in five years, in which 49 people died; 10 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 7.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Kansas towns of 100,000+ people (7.8, 5 towns).
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.
Topeka and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka | D− | 9.0 | 37.3 |
| Mission Township | — | — | — |
| Tecumseh Township | — | — | — |
| Soldier Township | — | — | — |
| Williamsport Township | — | — | — |
| Menoken Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Mission Township, Tecumseh Township, Soldier Township, Williamsport Township and Menoken Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Kansas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka | D− | 9.0 | 37.3 |
| Olathe | B− | 2.2 | 9.7 |
| Shawnee | C+ | 2.4 | 15.2 |
| Overland Park | C+ | 1.8 | 18.2 |
| Lawrence | C | 3.5 | 16.1 |
| Kansas City | D | 7.2 | 24.0 |
The five graded Kansas towns closest to Topeka’s population (125,795), by grade.
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 Topeka. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Topeka’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (125,228 in 2025); our figure for Topeka is 125,795 (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 Topeka
Is Topeka, KS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Topeka reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #78 of 80 in Kansas. Its police reported 9.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.5 in the rest of Kansas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Topeka?
9.0 violent and 37.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Kansas reports 4.5 and 21.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Topeka?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Topeka in 2025?
Topeka’s police reported 21 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 16.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Topeka?
Topeka’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Topeka Police Department”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Topeka.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.