Photo: Public domain, City of Fayetteville · Public domainFayetteville reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns
Year on year, 7.1 violent crimes and 29.7 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 5.0 and 27.8 in the rest of North Carolina. Even so, the graded rate fell 15% from 2023 to 2025. Its Safety Grade is D, on crimes Fayetteville’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #120 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina, and #248 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. It has more violent crime than 95% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 90%.
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 Fayetteville
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 North Carolina towns on Fayetteville’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Spring Lake (D). Rockfish and Vander are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Hope Mills reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Eastover has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Fayetteville’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 26% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 7% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Fayetteville’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 16.9 per 100,000 residents a year, 2.0 times the rest of North Carolina (8.6) and 3.0 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of North Carolina
108 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (207 reported in 2025), above the rest of North Carolina (78.1) and above 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, Fayetteville reports less crime per resident than 24% (#248). 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 Fayetteville’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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Fayetteville | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.7 | 10.2 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 22.5 | 9.5 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 12.4 | 9.0 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 15.8 | 7.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Fayetteville | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 116 | 91.8 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 125 | 85.2 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 101 | 83.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 99.0 | 65.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Fayetteville’s police reported 33 homicides, 207 robberies and 1,252 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Fayetteville property | Rest of North Carolina property | Fayetteville violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 34.6 | 28.7 | 9.8 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 30.7 | 29.6 | 8.7 | 5.3 |
| 2024 | 30.9 | 28.8 | 6.6 | 5.2 |
| 2025 | 27.4 | 25.1 | 6.0 | 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.
Crime in Fayetteville 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
6,982 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.
1,252 violent and 5,730 property, as reported to the FBI by Fayetteville’s police.
119 people died in crashes on Fayetteville’s roads in 2019–2023
Fayetteville had 109 fatal crashes in five years, in which 119 people died; 31 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 11.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Fayetteville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | D | 7.1 | 29.7 |
| Spring Lake | D | 5.2 | 31.6 |
| Rockfish | — | — | — |
| Hope Mills | — | — | — |
| Vander | — | — | — |
| Eastover | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Rockfish and Vander are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Hope Mills reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Eastover has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | D | 7.1 | 29.7 |
| Cary | B | 0.8 | 11.7 |
| Wilmington | D | 4.6 | 33.0 |
| Winston-Salem | D | 8.1 | 29.7 |
| Durham | D | 5.9 | 37.1 |
| Greensboro | D− | 8.2 | 33.6 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Fayetteville’s population (209,120), 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 Fayetteville. 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 Fayetteville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (209,151 in 2025); our figure for Fayetteville is 209,120 (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 Fayetteville
Is Fayetteville, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fayetteville reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #120 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 7.1 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 Fayetteville?
7.1 violent and 29.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.0 and 27.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Fayetteville in 2025?
Fayetteville’s police reported 33 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 15.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Fayetteville safer than Spring Lake?
Spring Lake reports less crime per resident than Fayetteville: Spring Lake grades D for safety and Fayetteville D. Spring Lake’s police reported 5.2 violent and 31.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Fayetteville?
Fayetteville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fayetteville”. 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 Fayetteville.
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.