Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Per resident, Hattiesburg records more crime than 89% of U.S. towns
The graded rate fell 15% from 2023 to 2025. The Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crimes Hattiesburg’s police reported through 2023 to 2025: #37 of 45 graded towns in Mississippi. In a usual year, 2.4 violent crimes and 37.6 incidents of property crime are logged per 1,000 inhabitants; in the rest of Mississippi, 2.8 and 20.7. It has more violent crime than 65% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 95%.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MS” is every other Mississippi 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 Hattiesburg
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Mississippi towns on Hattiesburg’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Petal (A). West Hattiesburg, Arnold Line and Rawls Springs are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Hattiesburg is home to the University of Southern Mississippi, with 9,238 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 19% 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
Hattiesburg has 42,088 jobs based in town for 48,802 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 Hattiesburg’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. Its violent rate (2.4) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Hattiesburg property | Rest of Mississippi property | Hattiesburg violent | Rest of Mississippi violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 44.8 | 23.8 | 3.4 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | 42.4 | 23.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | 34.7 | 21.2 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| 2025 | 35.8 | 18.4 | 2.6 | 3.1 |
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 Mississippi.
Crime in Hattiesburg 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Hattiesburg | Rest of Mississippi | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Hattiesburg’s police reported 354 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the rest of Mississippi and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
1,860 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.
124 violent and 1,736 property, as reported to the FBI by Hattiesburg’s police.
58 people died in crashes on Hattiesburg’s roads in 2019–2023
Hattiesburg had 54 fatal crashes in five years, in which 58 people died; 16 were pedestrians and 3 were cyclists. 10 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 23.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Mississippi towns of 25,000–100,000 people (11.4, 15 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.
Hattiesburg and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hattiesburg | D | 2.4 | 37.6 |
| West Hattiesburg | — | — | — |
| Arnold Line | — | — | — |
| Rawls Springs | — | — | — |
| Petal | A | 0.7 | 4.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. West Hattiesburg, Arnold Line and Rawls Springs are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Mississippi towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hattiesburg | D | 2.4 | 37.6 |
| Madison | A | 0.4 | 4.6 |
| Olive Branch | C+ | 1.9 | 13.7 |
| Southaven | C− | 2.6 | 23.0 |
| Biloxi | D | 3.7 | 30.8 |
| Tupelo | D | 3.8 | 37.2 |
The five graded Mississippi towns closest to Hattiesburg’s population (48,802), 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 Hattiesburg. 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 Hattiesburg’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (48,465 in 2025); our figure for Hattiesburg is 48,802 (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 Hattiesburg
Is Hattiesburg, MS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Hattiesburg reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #37 of 45 in Mississippi. Its police reported 2.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the rest of Mississippi and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Hattiesburg?
2.4 violent and 37.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Mississippi reports 2.8 and 20.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Hattiesburg in 2025?
Hattiesburg’s police reported 2 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 Hattiesburg safer than Petal?
Petal reports less crime per resident than Hattiesburg: Petal grades A for safety and Hattiesburg D. Petal’s police reported 0.7 violent and 4.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Hattiesburg?
Hattiesburg’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Hattiesburg”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Hattiesburg.
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.