Photo: GreatSmokies · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Bryson City records more violent crime than 90% of U.S. towns
Out of every 1,000 residents, 5.5 violent crimes and 13.3 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 5.0 and 27.9 in the rest of North Carolina. The overall Safety Grade is C−, which means more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported 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 Bryson City
A job center
Bryson City has 1,709 jobs based in town for 1,525 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 Bryson City’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its property rate (13.3) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Bryson City | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.0 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Bryson City’s police reported 25 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.5 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 Bryson City 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Bryson City property | Rest of North Carolina property | Bryson City violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.3 | 28.9 | 6.2 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 11.9 | 29.6 | 6.6 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 15.4 | 28.8 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 12.6 | 25.2 | 4.0 | 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, 2022–2025, against the rest of North Carolina.
25 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.
6 violent and 19 property, as reported to the FBI by Bryson City’s police.
No one died in a crash on Bryson City’s roads in 2019–2023
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 Bryson City’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bryson City’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Bryson City and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryson City | C− | 5.5 | 13.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bryson City | C− | 5.5 | 13.3 |
| Biltmore Forest | A− | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| Pine Knoll Shores | A− | 0.2 | 6.7 |
| Tryon | B− | 1.2 | 14.2 |
| Snow Hill | C | 1.6 | 23.6 |
| Atlantic Beach | D | 6.6 | 39.6 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Bryson City’s population (1,525), 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 Bryson City. 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 Bryson City’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,513 in 2025); our figure for Bryson City is 1,525 (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 Bryson City
Is Bryson City, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bryson City reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade. Its police reported 5.5 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 Bryson City?
5.5 violent and 13.3 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 Bryson City?
Bryson City’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bryson City”. 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 Bryson City.
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.