Downtown Main Street Historic District · Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0On property crime, North Wilkesboro has a higher rate per resident than four in five U.S. towns
Recorded violent crimes ran at 2.4 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 24.2, against 5.0 and 27.9 in the rest of North Carolina. Across all the graded crimes, North Wilkesboro lands on C− (#76 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina): more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, the rate the grade counts dropped 39% from 2023 to 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 North Wilkesboro
North Wilkesboro reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 North Carolina towns on North Wilkesboro’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Wilkesboro (D). Fairplains and Cricket are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so North Wilkesboro’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 53% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 22% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
North Wilkesboro has 4,560 jobs based in town for 4,369 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 North Wilkesboro’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 (2.4) 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 | North Wilkesboro property | Rest of North Carolina property | North Wilkesboro violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27.0 | 28.9 | 3.6 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 32.2 | 29.6 | 3.3 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 20.6 | 28.8 | 2.5 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 20.2 | 25.2 | 1.4 | 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | North Wilkesboro | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.3 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
North Wilkesboro’s police reported 31 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in North Wilkesboro 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
95 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.
6 violent and 89 property, as reported to the FBI by North Wilkesboro’s police.
One person died in crashes on North Wilkesboro’s roads in 2019–2023
North Wilkesboro had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person 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 North Wilkesboro’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so North Wilkesboro’s own rate (4.5) 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.
North Wilkesboro and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Wilkesboro | C− | 2.4 | 24.2 |
| Fairplains | — | — | — |
| Cricket | — | — | — |
| Wilkesboro | D | 3.4 | 44.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fairplains and Cricket are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Wilkesboro | C− | 2.4 | 24.2 |
| Stanley | C+ | 1.3 | 15.9 |
| Newport | C | 2.9 | 15.6 |
| Edenton | C | 4.1 | 15.2 |
| Franklin | C− | 2.1 | 26.4 |
| Troutman | D | 2.4 | 32.8 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to North Wilkesboro’s population (4,369), 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 North Wilkesboro. 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 North Wilkesboro’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,403 in 2025); our figure for North Wilkesboro is 4,369 (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 North Wilkesboro
Is North Wilkesboro, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, North Wilkesboro reports more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #76 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 2.4 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 North Wilkesboro?
2.4 violent and 24.2 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 North Wilkesboro safer than Wilkesboro?
Wilkesboro reports more crime per resident than North Wilkesboro: Wilkesboro grades D for safety and North Wilkesboro C−. Wilkesboro’s police reported 3.4 violent and 44.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices North Wilkesboro?
North Wilkesboro’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “North Wilkesboro”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in North Wilkesboro.
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.