Hudson Cotton Manufacturing Company · Photo: Bigdaverhuberg · CC BY-SA 3.0Reported crime per resident in Hudson fell 36% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Hudson grades B for safety (#23 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina): 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 Hudson
Hudson reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 North Carolina towns on Hudson’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Lenoir (C−). Sawmills has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, higher
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Hudson’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 86% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Hudson is home to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, with 2,492 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 9% 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
Hudson has 3,535 jobs based in town for 3,786 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 Hudson’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Hudson’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (13.3) 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.
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 | Hudson property | Rest of North Carolina property | Hudson violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.3 | 28.9 | 2.7 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 16.2 | 29.6 | 0.8 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 13.0 | 28.8 | 0.5 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 10.6 | 25.2 | 0.3 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Hudson’s police reported 6 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 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 | Hudson | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 11 property crimes reported
And fewer than 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.
41 crimes reported in 2025
1 violent and 40 property, as reported to the FBI by Hudson’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Hudson’s roads in 2019–2023
Hudson had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
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 Hudson’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Hudson’s own rate (10.6) 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.
Hudson and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Sawmills has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | B | 0.5 | 13.3 |
| Landis | B− | 2.4 | 11.1 |
| Kitty Hawk | C+ | 2.1 | 16.8 |
| Burgaw | C | 2.2 | 17.0 |
| Tabor City | C | 2.7 | 18.1 |
| Rutherfordton | C− | 2.4 | 32.2 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Hudson’s population (3,786), 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 Hudson. 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 Hudson’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,767 in 2025); our figure for Hudson is 3,786 (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 Hudson
Is Hudson, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Hudson reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #23 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 0.5 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 Hudson?
0.5 violent and 13.3 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 Hudson?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Hudson safer than Lenoir?
Lenoir reports more crime per resident than Hudson: Lenoir grades C− for safety and Hudson B. Lenoir’s police reported 2.7 violent and 30.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Hudson?
Hudson’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Hudson”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Hudson.
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.