Thomas Wolfe House · Photo: Abe Ezekowitz · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Asheville records more crime than 97% of U.S. towns
Its 3 neighbors with figures all record less crime per resident. What’s more, the yearly rates were 8.0 violent crimes and 42.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 5.0 and 27.6 in the rest of North Carolina. Measured on crimes Asheville’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D−: #143 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina. The rate the grade counts held about level from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NC” is every other North Carolina 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 Asheville
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 7 North Carolina towns on Asheville’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Biltmore Forest (A−), Fletcher (B), Woodfin (B−). Emma, Royal Pines and Avery Creek are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Mills River has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Asheville has 88,469 jobs based in town for 93,523 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 Asheville’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Asheville | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.4 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 8.5 | 5.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 8.0 | 5.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 7.5 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Asheville’s police reported 2,263 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 8.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Asheville 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 8 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Asheville property | Rest of North Carolina property | Asheville violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 51.3 | 28.5 | 9.4 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 45.2 | 29.4 | 8.5 | 5.4 |
| 2024 | 39.0 | 28.7 | 8.0 | 5.2 |
| 2025 | 43.5 | 24.9 | 7.5 | 4.3 |
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 North Carolina.
4,857 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.
714 violent and 4,143 property, as reported to the FBI by Asheville’s police.
69 people died in crashes on Asheville’s roads in 2019–2023
Asheville had 67 fatal crashes in five years, in which 69 people died; 17 were pedestrians and 5 were cyclists. 15 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 14.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for North Carolina towns of 25,000–100,000 people (7.9, 33 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.
Asheville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville | D− | 8.0 | 42.6 |
| Woodfin | B− | 2.1 | 10.2 |
| Emma | — | — | — |
| Biltmore Forest | A− | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| Royal Pines | — | — | — |
| Fletcher | B | 0.5 | 14.8 |
| Mills River | — | — | — |
| Avery Creek | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Emma, Royal Pines and Avery Creek are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Mills River has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville | D− | 8.0 | 42.6 |
| Concord | B | 1.3 | 10.0 |
| Jacksonville | C | 2.5 | 18.6 |
| High Point | D | 4.7 | 23.1 |
| Greenville | D | 4.8 | 28.1 |
| Gastonia | D− | 8.4 | 33.9 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Asheville’s population (93,523), 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 Asheville. 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 Asheville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (95,155 in 2025); our figure for Asheville is 93,523 (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 Asheville
Is Asheville, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Asheville reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #143 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 8.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Asheville?
8.0 violent and 42.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.0 and 27.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Asheville in 2025?
Asheville’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Asheville safer than Woodfin?
Woodfin reports less crime per resident than Asheville: Woodfin grades B− for safety and Asheville D−. Woodfin’s police reported 2.1 violent and 10.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Asheville?
Asheville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Asheville”. 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 Asheville.
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.