Bagnell Dam and Osage Power Plant · Photo: KTrimble · CC0Less property crime is recorded per resident in Lake Ozark than in 82% of U.S. towns
Overall, Lake Ozark grades B for safety: less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.2 violent crimes and 4.6 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 5.8 and 26.2 in the rest of Missouri.
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 Lake Ozark
Lake Ozark reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 1 Missouri towns on Lake Ozark’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Osage Beach (C). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Lake Ozark has 1,855 jobs based in town for 2,247 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 Lake Ozark’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Lake Ozark’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.2) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Ozark | Rest of Missouri | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 5.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 6.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lake Ozark’s police reported 15 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.8 in the rest of Missouri and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Lake Ozark 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Ozark property | Rest of Missouri property | Lake Ozark violent | Rest of Missouri violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 31.8 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| 2023 | 2.7 | 28.8 | 2.3 | 5.9 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 27.0 | 1.8 | 6.0 |
| 2025 | 6.7 | 22.9 | 2.7 | 5.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Missouri.
21 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.
6 violent and 15 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Ozark’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Lake Ozark’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake Ozark had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Missouri towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Lake Ozark’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lake Ozark’s own rate (17.1) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Lake Ozark and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Ozark | B | 2.2 | 4.6 |
| Osage Beach | C | 1.9 | 23.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Missouri towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Ozark | B | 2.2 | 4.6 |
| Lathrop | B | 1.8 | 6.3 |
| Willow Springs | B | 1.5 | 7.6 |
| Hermann | B | 1.8 | 8.8 |
| Noel | B− | 2.4 | 7.8 |
| Houston | D− | 5.0 | 52.4 |
The five graded Missouri towns closest to Lake Ozark’s population (2,247), 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 Lake Ozark. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Lake Ozark’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,244 in 2025); our figure for Lake Ozark is 2,247 (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 Lake Ozark
Is Lake Ozark, MO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Ozark reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade. Its police reported 2.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.8 in the rest of Missouri and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lake Ozark?
2.2 violent and 4.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Missouri reports 5.8 and 26.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Lake Ozark safer than Osage Beach?
Osage Beach reports more crime per resident than Lake Ozark: Osage Beach grades C for safety and Lake Ozark B. Osage Beach’s police reported 1.9 violent and 23.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lake Ozark?
Lake Ozark’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake Ozark”. 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 Lake Ozark.
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.