Banner Elk Hotel · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBanner Elk reports less crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Violent crime here is lower than in 92% of U.S. towns; property crime, lower than in 85%. Add to that, that puts it at A for safety, judged on crimes Banner Elk’s police reported from 2023 to 2025. Its police logs show 0.3 violent crime and 4.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of North Carolina the numbers are 5.0 and 27.9.
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 Banner Elk
A college town
Banner Elk is home to Lees-McRae College, with 672 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 54% 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
Banner Elk has 966 jobs based in town for 1,242 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 Banner Elk’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Banner Elk | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.0 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Banner Elk’s police reported 1 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 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 Banner Elk 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 1 violent crime, 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 | Banner Elk property | Rest of North Carolina property | Banner Elk violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 8.1 | 29.6 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 28.8 | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 25.2 | 0.8 | 4.4 |
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of North Carolina.
4 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.
1 violent and 3 property, as reported to the FBI by Banner Elk’s police.
One person died in crashes on Banner Elk’s roads in 2019–2023
Banner Elk had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.
That is about what is typical for North Carolina towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Banner Elk’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Banner Elk’s own rate (13.6) 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.
Banner Elk and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Elk | A | 0.3 | 4.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner Elk | A | 0.3 | 4.0 |
| Broadway | B | 0.7 | 12.5 |
| Blowing Rock | C | 1.0 | 22.4 |
| Weldon | C− | 2.9 | 27.0 |
| Beulaville | D | 5.5 | 43.2 |
| West Jefferson | D | 1.0 | 61.9 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Banner Elk’s population (1,242), 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 Banner Elk. 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 Banner Elk’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,201 in 2025); our figure for Banner Elk is 1,242 (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 Banner Elk
Is Banner Elk, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Banner Elk reports less crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade. Its police reported 0.3 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 Banner Elk?
0.3 violent and 4.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.0 and 27.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Banner Elk?
Banner Elk’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Banner Elk”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Banner Elk.
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.