Sanborn Field and Soil Erosion Plots · Photo: Iwtwb8 · CC BY-SA 3.0Columbia reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #122 of 172 graded towns in Missouri, and #154 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MO” is every other Missouri 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 Columbia
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Columbia’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 6.9 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Missouri (11.6) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Missouri
35.2 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (43 reported in 2025), below the rest of Missouri (75.3) and below 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, Columbia reports less crime per resident than 53% (#154). Places like it ↓
A college town
Columbia is home to the University of Missouri-Columbia, with 27,030 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 22% 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
Columbia has 88,533 jobs based in town for 130,851 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read 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 Columbia’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.
Reported crime is falling
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 Missouri.
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia property | Rest of Missouri property | Columbia violent | Rest of Missouri violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.1 | 32.0 | 4.7 | 6.4 |
| 2023 | 25.1 | 28.9 | 3.9 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 23.2 | 27.1 | 3.5 | 6.1 |
| 2025 | 18.7 | 23.0 | 3.6 | 5.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Columbia’s police reported 4 homicides, 43 robberies and 471 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Missouri and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | Rest of Missouri | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.6 | 15.1 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 7.7 | 13.4 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 10.0 | 11.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 10.2 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | Rest of Missouri | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50.8 | 85.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 33.2 | 80.9 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 39.9 | 80.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 32.6 | 64.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 19 property crimes reported
And about 4 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.
2,946 crimes reported in 2025
471 violent and 2,475 property, as reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
52 people died in crashes on Columbia’s roads in 2019–2023
Columbia had 49 fatal crashes in five years, in which 52 people died; 16 were pedestrians. 10 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Missouri towns of 100,000+ people (15.4, 6 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.
Columbia and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C− | 3.6 | 22.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Missouri towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C− | 3.6 | 22.3 |
| O'Fallon | A− | 0.8 | 5.7 |
| St. Charles | B | 1.7 | 8.9 |
| Lee's Summit | C | 1.4 | 21.4 |
| Independence | D | 4.4 | 26.1 |
| Springfield | D− | 11.9 | 40.4 |
The five graded Missouri towns closest to Columbia’s population (130,851), 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 Columbia. 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 Columbia’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (132,072 in 2025); our figure for Columbia is 130,851 (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 Columbia
Is Columbia, MO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Columbia reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #122 of 172 in Missouri. Its police reported 3.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.9 in the rest of Missouri and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Columbia?
3.6 violent and 22.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Missouri reports 5.9 and 26.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Columbia?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Columbia in 2025?
Columbia’s police reported 4 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 Columbia?
Columbia’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Columbia”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Columbia.
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.