Photo: (User:Wgreaves) · CC BY 3.0For property crime, Chapel Hill trails 82% of U.S. towns per resident
Its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident. Overall, Chapel Hill grades C for safety (#57 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina): more crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 1.4 violent crimes and 22.9 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 5.1 and 27.9 in the rest of North Carolina. What’s more, the crimes the grade counts fell 33% per resident 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 Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 North Carolina towns on Chapel Hill’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Carrboro (C), Durham (D). Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Chapel Hill’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 65% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 30% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Chapel Hill is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with 30,684 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 35% 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
Chapel Hill has 50,889 jobs based in town for 63,565 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 Chapel Hill’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Chapel Hill’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Chapel Hill property | Rest of North Carolina property | Chapel Hill violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.9 | 29.0 | 1.9 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 25.9 | 29.7 | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 25.1 | 28.9 | 1.7 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 17.7 | 25.3 | 0.8 | 4.4 |
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Chapel Hill | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.7 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Chapel Hill’s police reported 281 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.1 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Chapel Hill 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.
1,219 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.
55 violent and 1,164 property, as reported to the FBI by Chapel Hill’s police.
12 people died in crashes on Chapel Hill’s roads in 2019–2023
Chapel Hill had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died; 4 were pedestrians.
That is 3.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below 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.
Chapel Hill and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill | C | 1.4 | 22.9 |
| Carrboro | C | 2.4 | 20.6 |
| Durham | D | 5.9 | 37.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill | C | 1.4 | 22.9 |
| Wake Forest | B− | 1.3 | 12.9 |
| Huntersville | B− | 1.5 | 13.0 |
| Kannapolis | C+ | 1.9 | 17.5 |
| Mooresville | C | 2.2 | 20.7 |
| Burlington | D | 8.0 | 31.3 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Chapel Hill’s population (63,565), 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 Chapel Hill. 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 Chapel Hill’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (65,938 in 2025); our figure for Chapel Hill is 63,565 (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 Chapel Hill
Is Chapel Hill, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Chapel Hill reports more crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #57 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 1.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.1 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Chapel Hill?
1.4 violent and 22.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.1 and 27.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Chapel Hill in 2025?
Chapel Hill’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Chapel Hill safer than Carrboro?
Carrboro reports more crime per resident than Chapel Hill: Carrboro grades C for safety and Chapel Hill C. Carrboro’s police reported 2.4 violent and 20.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Chapel Hill?
Chapel Hill’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Chapel Hill”. 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 Chapel Hill.
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.