King Historic District · Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0King reports less violent crime than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Overall, King grades B− for safety (#36 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 King
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so King’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 78% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 48% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 King’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds King’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (16.3) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
King’s police reported 17 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 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 | King | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.7 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.4 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Reported crime is rising
Reported crime per resident rose 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 | King property | Rest of North Carolina property | King violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.3 | 28.9 | 0.7 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 16.5 | 29.7 | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 12.0 | 28.9 | 0.8 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 20.5 | 25.2 | 1.0 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 21 property crimes reported
And about 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.
170 crimes reported in 2025
8 violent and 162 property, as reported to the FBI by King’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Three people died in crashes on King’s roads in 2019–2023
King had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for North Carolina towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (7.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of King’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so King’s own rate (8.1) 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.
King and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| King | B− | 0.7 | 16.3 |
| Tobaccoville | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Tobaccoville has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
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 King. 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 King’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,907 in 2025); our figure for King is 7,977 (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 King
Is King, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, King reports more crime per resident than 52% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #36 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 0.7 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 King?
0.7 violent and 16.3 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 King?
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices King?
King’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “King”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in King.
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.