Photo: Aaron Hines/City of Greenville · Public domainGreenville reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Greenville’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #106 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina.
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 Greenville
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 North Carolina towns on Greenville’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Winterville (B+). Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Greenville’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 35% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 11% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Greenville is home to East Carolina University, with 18,856 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 23% 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 ↓
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 Greenville’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
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 | Greenville property | Rest of North Carolina property | Greenville violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.3 | 28.9 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 31.9 | 29.6 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 29.1 | 28.8 | 4.5 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 23.5 | 25.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 24 property crimes reported
And about 4 violent crimes, 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Greenville’s police reported 1,331 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Greenville | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
2,689 crimes reported in 2025
426 violent and 2,263 property, as reported to the FBI by Greenville’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
43 people died in crashes on Greenville’s roads in 2019–2023
Greenville had 41 fatal crashes in five years, in which 43 people died; 15 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 9.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Greenville and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | D | 4.8 | 28.1 |
| Winterville | B+ | 1.5 | 7.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | D | 4.8 | 28.1 |
| Concord | B | 1.3 | 10.0 |
| High Point | D | 4.7 | 23.1 |
| Wilmington | D | 4.6 | 33.0 |
| Gastonia | D− | 8.4 | 33.9 |
| Asheville | D− | 8.0 | 42.6 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Greenville’s population (96,443), 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 Greenville. 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 Greenville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (96,214 in 2025); our figure for Greenville is 96,443 (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 Greenville
Is Greenville, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Greenville reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #106 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 4.8 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 Greenville?
4.8 violent and 28.1 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.
Is crime going up or down in Greenville?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Greenville in 2025?
Greenville’s police reported 8 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 8.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Greenville safer than Winterville?
Winterville reports less crime per resident than Greenville: Winterville grades B+ for safety and Greenville D. Winterville’s police reported 1.5 violent and 7.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Greenville?
Greenville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Greenville”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Greenville.
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.