Photo: TheLionHasSeen · CC BY-SA 4.0Lafayette reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Lafayette’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #36 of 46 graded towns in Louisiana, and #302 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of LA” is every other Louisiana 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 Lafayette
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Louisiana towns on Lafayette’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Broussard (C). Scott and Carencro reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Milton is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
Among Louisiana towns, closer to the middle
Louisiana’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lafayette’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 22% of the 46 Louisiana towns we grade, against 2% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Lafayette’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 14.0 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Louisiana (21.1) and 2.5 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: about the same as the rest of Louisiana
77.7 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (81 reported in 2025), about the same as the rest of Louisiana (77.9) 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, Lafayette reports less crime per resident than 7% (#302). Places like it ↓
A college town
Lafayette is home to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with 13,378 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 7% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Lafayette has 92,462 jobs based in town for 123,311 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 Lafayette’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
Lafayette’s police reported 5 homicides, 81 robberies and 1,383 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Louisiana and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Lafayette | Rest of Louisiana | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.1 | 33.8 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 23.1 | 29.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 14.8 | 15.8 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.1 | 14.3 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Lafayette | Rest of Louisiana | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 82.3 | 145 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 98.1 | 109 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 69.2 | 61.2 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 66.1 | 47.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 35 property crimes reported
And about 11 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 Louisiana.
Show as a table
| Year | Lafayette property | Rest of Louisiana property | Lafayette violent | Rest of Louisiana violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.9 | 42.6 | 4.8 | 10.5 |
| 2023 | 46.0 | 43.0 | 8.2 | 9.5 |
| 2024 | 43.5 | 33.4 | 10.7 | 8.6 |
| 2025 | 34.5 | 29.0 | 11.3 | 7.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5,612 crimes reported in 2025
1,383 violent and 4,229 property, as reported to the FBI by Lafayette’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
83 people died in crashes on Lafayette’s roads in 2019–2023
Lafayette had 79 fatal crashes in five years, in which 83 people died; 26 were pedestrians and 8 were cyclists. 6 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 13.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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.
Lafayette and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Scott and Carencro reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Milton is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
Louisiana towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | D− | 10.0 | 41.3 |
| Kenner | C− | 3.2 | 26.9 |
| Lake Charles | D | 6.4 | 26.0 |
| Bossier City | D− | 8.4 | 38.4 |
| Shreveport | D− | 10.4 | 40.2 |
The five graded Louisiana towns closest to Lafayette’s population (123,311), 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 Lafayette. 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 Lafayette’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (122,489 in 2025); our figure for Lafayette is 123,311 (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 Lafayette
Is Lafayette, LA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lafayette reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #36 of 46 in Louisiana. Its police reported 10.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.7 in the rest of Louisiana and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lafayette?
10.0 violent and 41.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Louisiana reports 8.7 and 36.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Lafayette?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lafayette in 2025?
Lafayette’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lafayette safer than Broussard?
Broussard reports less crime per resident than Lafayette: Broussard grades C for safety and Lafayette D−. Broussard’s police reported 1.9 violent and 19.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lafayette?
Lafayette’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lafayette”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lafayette.
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.