Todd M. Sr. George House · Photo: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lee's Summit reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, Lee's Summit grades C for safety (#95 of 172 graded towns in Missouri, and #86 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): more crime per resident than 68% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Lee's Summit
2 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Missouri towns on Lee's Summit’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Greenwood (A), Lake Lotawana (B+), Independence (D), Kansas City (D−). Lake Winnebago reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among Missouri towns, closer to the middle
Missouri’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lee's Summit’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 45% of the 172 Missouri towns we grade, against 32% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Lee's Summit’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 1.3 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Missouri (11.7) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Missouri
8.2 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (6 reported in 2025), below the rest of Missouri (75.9) 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, Lee's Summit reports less crime per resident than 74% (#86). 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 Lee's Summit’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Lee's Summit’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Homicides and robberies
Lee's Summit’s police reported 2 homicides, 6 robberies and 123 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 | Lee's Summit | Rest of Missouri | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.6 | 86.2 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 9.6 | 81.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 9.5 | 81.1 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 5.6 | 65.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
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 | Lee's Summit property | Rest of Missouri property | Lee's Summit violent | Rest of Missouri violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 21.0 | 32.1 | 1.4 | 6.5 |
| 2023 | 21.8 | 29.0 | 1.6 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 22.9 | 27.1 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| 2025 | 19.5 | 23.0 | 1.1 | 5.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 20 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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.
2,218 crimes reported in 2025
123 violent and 2,095 property, as reported to the FBI by Lee's Summit’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
23 people died in crashes on Lee's Summit’s roads in 2019–2023
Lee's Summit had 22 fatal crashes in five years, in which 23 people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 10 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.4 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.
Lee's Summit and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lee's Summit | C | 1.4 | 21.4 |
| Independence | D | 4.4 | 26.1 |
| Kansas City | D− | 14.6 | 45.3 |
| Lake Winnebago | — | — | — |
| Greenwood | A | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| Lake Lotawana | B+ | 1.2 | 6.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Lake Winnebago reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Missouri towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lee's Summit | C | 1.4 | 21.4 |
| O'Fallon | A− | 0.8 | 5.7 |
| St. Charles | B | 1.7 | 8.9 |
| Columbia | C− | 3.6 | 22.3 |
| St. Joseph | D | 6.6 | 37.2 |
| Springfield | D− | 11.9 | 40.4 |
The five graded Missouri towns closest to Lee's Summit’s population (107,514), 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 Lee's Summit. 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 Lee's Summit’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (107,668 in 2025); our figure for Lee's Summit is 107,514 (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 Lee's Summit
Is Lee's Summit, MO safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lee's Summit reports more crime per resident than 68% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #95 of 172 in Missouri. Its police reported 1.4 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 Lee's Summit?
1.4 violent and 21.4 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 Lee's Summit?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Lee's Summit in 2025?
Lee's Summit’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Lee's Summit safer than Independence?
Independence reports more crime per resident than Lee's Summit: Independence grades D for safety and Lee's Summit C. Independence’s police reported 4.4 violent and 26.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lee's Summit?
Lee's Summit’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lee's Summit”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lee's Summit.
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.