Photo: IraEskins · CC BY-SA 3.0Holden Beach goes ungraded: its recorded crime
Holden Beach’s police reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. Within 10 miles, Shallotte is the one town with a Safety Grade. Widen the search to 25 miles and 2 graded towns turn up.
15 crimes reported in 2024
In a town this small, a few incidents move the numbers a lot, so we show counts rather than rates.
Every offense type reported in 2024
2024 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
1 violent and 14 property, as reported to the FBI by Holden Beach’s police.
The nearest North Carolina towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shallotte | D | 6 mi | 2.9 | 44.4 |
| Boiling Spring Lakes | B− | 16 mi | 2.1 | 12.0 |
| Leland | B+ | 25 mi | 1.1 | 7.4 |
| Carolina Beach | C− | 26 mi | 3.5 | 18.1 |
| Wilmington | D | 32 mi | 4.6 | 33.0 |
| Tabor City | C | 36 mi | 2.7 | 18.1 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Holden Beach. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Holden Beach.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Holden Beach’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 Holden Beach’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Holden Beach’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.
Holden Beach and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Holden Beach. 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 Holden Beach’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (945 in 2024); our figure for Holden Beach is 916 (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 Holden Beach
Is Holden Beach, NC safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Holden Beach. The nearest North Carolina towns with a grade are Shallotte (D, 6 mi), Boiling Spring Lakes (B−, 16 mi), Leland (B+, 25 mi).
Who polices Holden Beach?
Holden Beach’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Holden Beach”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Holden Beach.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2024, 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.