Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority · Public domainBenton reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, Benton grades B for safety (#52 of 115 graded towns in Kentucky): less crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of KY” is every other Kentucky 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 Benton
A job center
Benton has 2,925 jobs based in town for 4,718 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Benton’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Benton’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (12.8) 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
Benton’s police reported 6 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.2 in the rest of Kentucky and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Benton | Rest of Kentucky | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And no 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 steady
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 Kentucky.
Show as a table
| Year | Benton property | Rest of Kentucky property | Benton violent | Rest of Kentucky violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.7 | 19.9 | 0.4 | 1.8 |
| 2023 | 10.9 | 24.2 | 0.4 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 13.2 | 21.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 14.4 | 19.9 | 0.0 | 3.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
68 crimes reported in 2025
0 violent and 68 property, as reported to the FBI by Benton’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Three people died in crashes on Benton’s roads in 2019–2023
Benton had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what is typical for Kentucky towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Benton’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Benton’s own rate (12.6) 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.
Benton and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benton | B | 0.4 | 12.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Benton. 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 Benton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,717 in 2025); our figure for Benton is 4,718 (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 Benton
Is Benton, KY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Benton reports less crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #52 of 115 in Kentucky. Its police reported 0.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.2 in the rest of Kentucky and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Benton?
0.4 violent and 12.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Kentucky reports 3.2 and 21.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Benton?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Benton?
Benton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Benton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Benton.
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.