Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0Kernersville has more property crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns
Overall, Kernersville grades D for safety (#97 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina): more crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Still, the rate the grade counts dropped 26% from 2023 to 2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 2.5 violent crimes and 32.0 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 5.1 and 27.9 in the rest of North Carolina. Its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident.
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 Kernersville
Kernersville reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 North Carolina towns on Kernersville’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Winston-Salem (D), Greensboro (D−). Walkertown 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 Kernersville’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 40% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 14% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Kernersville has 18,134 jobs based in town for 29,128 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 Kernersville’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. Its violent rate (2.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Kernersville property | Rest of North Carolina property | Kernersville violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35.9 | 28.8 | 2.8 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 37.1 | 29.6 | 3.2 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 31.5 | 28.8 | 2.3 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 27.6 | 25.2 | 2.1 | 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.
Crime in Kernersville 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Kernersville | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.8 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.3 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.1 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Kernersville’s police reported 219 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.1 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
874 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.
63 violent and 811 property, as reported to the FBI by Kernersville’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Kernersville’s roads in 2019–2023
Kernersville had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is fewer than is typical for North Carolina towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (7.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Kernersville’s size would see about 11 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Kernersville’s own rate (1.4) 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.
Kernersville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kernersville | D | 2.5 | 32.0 |
| Winston-Salem | D | 8.1 | 29.7 |
| Greensboro | D− | 8.2 | 33.6 |
| Walkertown | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Walkertown has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kernersville | D | 2.5 | 32.0 |
| Mint Hill | B+ | 0.9 | 9.4 |
| Clayton | B− | 1.4 | 13.0 |
| Morrisville | C | 1.0 | 24.6 |
| Asheboro | C− | 3.3 | 24.8 |
| Statesville | D | 7.5 | 36.0 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Kernersville’s population (29,128), 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 Kernersville. 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 Kernersville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (29,334 in 2025); our figure for Kernersville is 29,128 (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 Kernersville
Is Kernersville, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Kernersville reports more crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #97 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 2.5 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 Kernersville?
2.5 violent and 32.0 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 Kernersville in 2025?
Kernersville’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Kernersville safer than Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem reports more crime per resident than Kernersville: Winston-Salem grades D for safety and Kernersville D. Winston-Salem’s police reported 8.1 violent and 29.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Kernersville?
Kernersville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Kernersville”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Kernersville.
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.