Photo: Spatms · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime recorded in Baton Rouge, and why it isn’t graded
The closest graded town is Port Allen, 5 miles away, at D−. Baton Rouge’s police reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. Nearby, 3 communities within 10 miles carry a Safety Grade.
For every 1,000 residents, about 55 property crimes reported
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2023
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2023
Crimes reported to police in 2023 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 10 violent crimes, in 2023. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
The years Baton Rouge’s police reported
Show as a table
| Year | Baton Rouge | Rest of Louisiana | Baton Rouge | Rest of Louisiana |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 58.5 | 40.1 | 10.3 | 10.0 |
| 2023 | 55.3 | 41.3 | 10.0 | 9.3 |
| 2024 | not reported | 34.5 | not reported | 8.9 |
| 2025 | not reported | 29.6 | not reported | 8.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of Louisiana. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
14,307 crimes reported in 2023
2023 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
2,199 violent and 12,108 property, as reported to the FBI by Baton Rouge’s police.
The nearest Louisiana towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Allen | D− | 5 mi | 12.6 | 23.8 |
| Addis | A− | 9 mi | 0.8 | 5.9 |
| Baker | C | 10 mi | 4.0 | 15.4 |
| Plaquemine | D− | 13 mi | 10.2 | 30.0 |
| Zachary | C− | 15 mi | 3.3 | 20.7 |
| Gonzales | D | 20 mi | 5.2 | 40.3 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Baton Rouge. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Baton Rouge.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
264 people died in crashes on Baton Rouge’s roads in 2019–2023
Baton Rouge had 248 fatal crashes in five years, in which 264 people died; 79 were pedestrians and 20 were cyclists. 53 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 23.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Louisiana towns of 100,000+ people (14.9, 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.
Baton Rouge and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. George | — | — | — |
| Merrydale | — | — | — |
| Gardere | — | — | — |
| Monticello | — | — | — |
| Brownfields | — | — | — |
| Port Allen | D− | 12.6 | 23.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. St. George has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Merrydale, Gardere, Monticello and Brownfields are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 Baton Rouge. 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 Baton Rouge’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (219,086 in 2023); our figure for Baton Rouge is 222,795 (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 Baton Rouge
Is Baton Rouge, LA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Baton Rouge. The nearest Louisiana towns with a grade are Port Allen (D−, 5 mi), Addis (A−, 9 mi), Baker (C, 10 mi).
Who polices Baton Rouge?
Baton Rouge’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Baton Rouge”. 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 Baton Rouge.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2023, 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.