Photo: Fredlyfish4 · CC BY-SA 4.0Water Valley sees more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
Violent crime here is higher than in 85% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 90%. Police counts work out at 4.4 violent crimes and 29.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of Mississippi they are 2.7 and 21.6. Its Safety Grade is D, on crimes Water Valley’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #37 of 45 graded towns in Mississippi.
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’s behind Water Valley’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.
Crime in Water Valley 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 4 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 | Water Valley | Rest of Mississippi | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Water Valley’s police reported 45 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.7 in the rest of Mississippi and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Water Valley property | Rest of Mississippi property | Water Valley violent | Rest of Mississippi violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.8 | 25.1 | 4.2 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | 28.0 | 24.5 | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | 29.0 | 22.0 | 5.3 | 2.5 |
| 2025 | 30.7 | 19.1 | 4.4 | 3.0 |
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 Mississippi.
120 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.
15 violent and 105 property, as reported to the FBI by Water Valley’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Water Valley’s roads in 2019–2023
Water Valley had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for Mississippi towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (14.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Water Valley’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Water Valley’s own rate (11.8) 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.
Water Valley and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Valley | D | 4.4 | 29.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Mississippi towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Valley | D | 4.4 | 29.2 |
| Guntown | B+ | 0.4 | 9.9 |
| Iuka | B− | 1.6 | 13.6 |
| Ellisville | B− | 1.8 | 13.3 |
| Poplarville | C+ | 1.4 | 16.2 |
| Wiggins | C− | 2.6 | 27.1 |
The five graded Mississippi towns closest to Water Valley’s population (3,414), 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 Water Valley. 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 Water Valley’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,421 in 2025); our figure for Water Valley is 3,414 (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 Water Valley
Is Water Valley, MS safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Water Valley reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #37 of 45 in Mississippi. Its police reported 4.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.7 in the rest of Mississippi and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Water Valley?
4.4 violent and 29.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Mississippi reports 2.7 and 21.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Water Valley?
Water Valley’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Water Valley”. 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 Water Valley.
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.