Keeneland-Keeneland Racetrack · Photo: Jason Phillips (user:Wildcat~commonswiki) · CC BY 2.5Lexington sees more property crime per resident than 83% of U.S. towns
Lexington grades C− for safety overall (#100 of 115 graded towns in Kentucky, and #134 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): more crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, the graded rate fell 24% from 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.5 violent crimes and 23.6 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 3.4 and 21.5 in the rest of Kentucky.
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 Lexington
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Lexington’s police reported 14 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 4.5 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Kentucky (6.9) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of Kentucky
71.4 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (193 reported in 2025), above the rest of Kentucky (58.0) and about the same as 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, Lexington reports less crime per resident than 59% (#134). Places like 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 Lexington’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.5) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lexington property | Rest of Kentucky property | Lexington violent | Rest of Kentucky violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.2 | 18.3 | 2.7 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | 27.5 | 23.7 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| 2024 | 22.7 | 21.0 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
| 2025 | 20.6 | 19.8 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
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, 2022–2025, against the rest of Kentucky.
Crime in Lexington 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Lexington | Rest of Kentucky | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.3 | 3.2 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 4.4 | 9.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.9 | 8.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Lexington | Rest of Kentucky | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 70.1 | 34.5 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 76.9 | 66.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 79.5 | 58.6 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 58.3 | 48.9 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Lexington’s police reported 14 homicides, 193 robberies and 749 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Kentucky and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
7,581 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.
749 violent and 6,832 property, as reported to the FBI by Lexington’s police.
188 people died in crashes on Lexington’s roads in 2019–2023
Lexington had 170 fatal crashes in five years, in which 188 people died; 43 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 35 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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.
Lexington and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | C− | 2.5 | 23.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Lexington. 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 Lexington’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (330,994 in 2025); our figure for Lexington is 329,751 (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 Lexington
Is Lexington, KY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lexington reports more crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #100 of 115 in Kentucky. Its police reported 2.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Kentucky and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lexington?
2.5 violent and 23.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Kentucky reports 3.4 and 21.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Lexington in 2025?
Lexington’s police reported 14 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Lexington?
Lexington’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lexington”. 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 Lexington.
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.