Photo: Stephen Edmonds · CC BY-SA 3.0Kansas City records more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
Graded on crimes Kansas City’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it scores D− for safety: #167 of 172 graded towns in Missouri, and #319 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Violent crime here is higher than in 99% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 97%. The local count comes to 14.6 violent crimes and 45.3 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 4.4 and 23.1 in the rest of Missouri. The rate the grade counts dropped 17% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Kansas City
8 of the 8 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Missouri towns on Kansas City’s borders, 8 have a Safety Grade: Liberty (C+), Lee's Summit (C), Belton (C), Independence (D), Sugar Creek (D), Grandview (D), Claycomo (D), Raytown (D). Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Kansas City’s police reported 135 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 29.7 per 100,000 residents a year, 3.5 times the rest of Missouri (8.5) and 5.2 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 4.8 times the rest of Missouri
232 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (1,036 reported in 2025), 4.8 times the rest of Missouri (48.7) and 2.9 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, Kansas City reports less crime per resident than 2% (#319). 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 Kansas City’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 | Kansas City | Rest of Missouri | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 32.6 | 12.0 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 35.5 | 9.6 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 27.6 | 8.5 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 26.1 | 7.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Kansas City | Rest of Missouri | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 220 | 61.9 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 241 | 53.3 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 254 | 51.2 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 200 | 41.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Kansas City’s police reported 135 homicides, 1,036 robberies and 7,094 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Kansas City property | Rest of Missouri property | Kansas City violent | Rest of Missouri violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 47.2 | 29.3 | 14.8 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 49.6 | 25.5 | 14.8 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 46.8 | 23.8 | 15.5 | 4.5 |
| 2025 | 39.5 | 20.2 | 13.7 | 4.1 |
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 Missouri.
Crime in Kansas City 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 14 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
27,557 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.
7,094 violent and 20,463 property, as reported to the FBI by Kansas City’s police.
77 of the 439 people who died in crashes on Kansas City’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Kansas City had 411 fatal crashes in five years, in which 439 people died. 9 of those killed were cyclists. 101 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 17.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Missouri towns of 100,000+ people (15.4, 6 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Kansas City has the 35th 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.
Kansas City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | D− | 14.6 | 45.3 |
| Independence | D | 4.4 | 26.1 |
| Liberty | C+ | 1.5 | 15.4 |
| Claycomo | D | 6.3 | 36.1 |
| Raytown | D | 7.6 | 34.6 |
| Belton | C | 2.6 | 20.1 |
| Lee's Summit | C | 1.4 | 21.4 |
| Grandview | D | 5.1 | 36.9 |
| Sugar Creek | D | 3.0 | 32.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Missouri towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | D− | 14.6 | 45.3 |
| St. Louis | D− | 13.5 | 57.1 |
The five graded Missouri towns closest to Kansas City’s population (521,220), by grade.
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 Kansas City. 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 Kansas City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (518,039 in 2025); our figure for Kansas City is 521,220 (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 Kansas City
Is Kansas City, MO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Kansas City reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #167 of 172 in Missouri. Its police reported 14.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.4 in the rest of Missouri and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Kansas City?
14.6 violent and 45.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Missouri reports 4.4 and 23.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Kansas City in 2025?
Kansas City’s police reported 135 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 26.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Kansas City safer than Independence?
Independence reports less crime per resident than Kansas City: Independence grades D for safety and Kansas City D−. Independence’s police reported 4.4 violent and 26.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Kansas City?
Kansas City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Kansas City”. 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 Kansas City.
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.