Carpenter Historic District · Photo: KimWrenn · CC BY-SA 3.0Reported crime per resident in Cary fell 22% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Cary grades B for safety (#20 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina, and #16 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Cary
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 North Carolina towns on Cary’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Holly Springs (B+), Morrisville (C), Raleigh (D), Durham (D). Apex reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, higher
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Cary’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 88% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 59% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Cary’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 1.1 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of North Carolina (9.2) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of North Carolina
13.5 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (16 reported in 2025), below the rest of North Carolina (81.4) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Cary reports less crime per resident than 95% (#16). Places like 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 Cary’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Cary’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.7) 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.
Homicides and robberies
Cary’s police reported 1 homicides, 16 robberies and 138 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of North Carolina and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Cary | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.0 | 10.8 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 1.1 | 10.2 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 9.4 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 7.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Cary | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.2 | 95.3 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 19.1 | 88.8 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 12.7 | 86.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 8.7 | 68.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Cary property | Rest of North Carolina property | Cary violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.1 | 29.5 | 0.8 | 5.9 |
| 2023 | 12.3 | 30.2 | 1.0 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 13.2 | 29.3 | 0.7 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 9.6 | 25.7 | 0.7 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 10 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
1,913 crimes reported in 2025
138 violent and 1,775 property, as reported to the FBI by Cary’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
14 people died in crashes on Cary’s roads in 2019–2023
Cary had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 14 people died; 3 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 1.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for North Carolina towns of 100,000+ people (8.8, 10 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.
Cary and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cary | B | 0.8 | 11.7 |
| Morrisville | C | 1.0 | 24.6 |
| Raleigh | D | 4.7 | 25.6 |
| Apex | — | — | — |
| Durham | D | 5.9 | 37.1 |
| Holly Springs | B+ | 1.0 | 8.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Apex reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cary | B | 0.8 | 11.7 |
| Concord | B | 1.3 | 10.0 |
| High Point | D | 4.7 | 23.1 |
| Wilmington | D | 4.6 | 33.0 |
| Fayetteville | D | 7.1 | 29.7 |
| Winston-Salem | D | 8.1 | 29.7 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Cary’s population (183,582), by grade.
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 Cary. 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 Cary’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (184,680 in 2025); our figure for Cary is 183,582 (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 Cary
Is Cary, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Cary reports less crime per resident than 59% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #20 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 0.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.2 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Cary?
0.8 violent and 11.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.2 and 28.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Cary?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Cary in 2025?
Cary’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Cary safer than Morrisville?
Morrisville reports more crime per resident than Cary: Morrisville grades C for safety and Cary B. Morrisville’s police reported 1.0 violent and 24.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Cary?
Cary’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Cary”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Cary.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.