United States Marine Hospital of Louisville · Photo: Censusdata at en.wikipedia · Public domainLouisville reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns
The graded rate fell 7% from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, for every 1,000 residents, 7.1 violent crimes and 34.5 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of Kentucky, the figures are 1.7 and 16.9. On crimes reported by Louisville’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #265 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Louisville
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Louisville’s police reported 21 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 15.8 per 100,000 residents a year, 5.2 times the rest of Kentucky (3.0) and 2.8 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 3.7 times the rest of Kentucky
127 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (735 reported in 2025), 3.7 times the rest of Kentucky (34.0) and 1.6 times 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, Louisville reports less crime per resident than 18% (#265). 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 Louisville’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
Show as a table
| Year | Louisville | Rest of Kentucky | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 22.9 | 3.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 21.7 | 3.3 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Louisville | Rest of Kentucky | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 148 | 37.7 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 128 | 35.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 106 | 28.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Louisville’s police reported 21 homicides, 735 robberies and 4,637 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.
Crime in Louisville 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 per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Louisville property | Rest of Kentucky property | Louisville violent | Rest of Kentucky violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 36.2 | 19.6 | 7.7 | 1.8 |
| 2024 | 33.3 | 16.6 | 7.1 | 1.7 |
| 2025 | 34.2 | 14.4 | 6.7 | 1.7 |
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 Kentucky.
28,292 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.
4,637 violent and 23,655 property, as reported to the FBI by Louisville’s police.
156 of the 609 people who died in crashes on Louisville’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Louisville had 576 fatal crashes in five years, in which 609 people died. 18 of those killed were cyclists. 112 died in crashes on an Interstate.
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Louisville has the 29th lowest rate.
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.
Louisville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville | D | 7.1 | 34.5 |
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 Louisville. 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 Louisville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (691,630 in 2025); our figure for Louisville is 795,222 (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 Louisville
Is Louisville, KY safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Louisville reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade. Its police reported 7.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.7 in the rest of Kentucky and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Louisville?
7.1 violent and 34.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Kentucky reports 1.7 and 16.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Louisville in 2025?
Louisville’s police reported 21 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Louisville?
Louisville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Louisville Metro”. 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 Louisville.
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.