Raeford Historic District · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime in Raeford sits close to the middle of U.S. towns
Taking everything together, Raeford scores B− (#32 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina): close to the middle of U.S. towns, measured on crimes its police reported between 2023 and 2025. What’s more, for every 1,000 residents, 1.4 violent crimes and 13.1 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of North Carolina, the figures are 5.0 and 27.9. On violence it beats 57% of U.S. towns; on property crime, only 42%. The rate the grade counts held about level 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 Raeford
Among North Carolina towns, higher
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Raeford’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 80% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 50% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A job center
Raeford has 4,260 jobs based in town for 4,703 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Raeford’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Raeford’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (13.1) 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
Show as a table
| Year | Raeford | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.6 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.2 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Raeford’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 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 Raeford 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Raeford property | Rest of North Carolina property | Raeford violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.0 | 28.9 | 3.6 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 12.2 | 29.6 | 2.2 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 14.3 | 28.8 | 1.1 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 12.9 | 25.2 | 0.9 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of North Carolina.
63 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.
4 violent and 59 property, as reported to the FBI by Raeford’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Raeford’s roads in 2019–2023
Raeford 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 Raeford’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Raeford’s own rate (8.8) 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.
Raeford and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raeford | B− | 1.4 | 13.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raeford | B− | 1.4 | 13.1 |
| China Grove | B | 0.8 | 10.3 |
| Valdese | C | 2.1 | 18.7 |
| Randleman | C− | 2.4 | 28.1 |
| Benson | D | 7.1 | 31.5 |
| Whiteville | D− | 8.7 | 85.4 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Raeford’s population (4,703), 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 Raeford. 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 Raeford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,584 in 2025); our figure for Raeford is 4,703 (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 Raeford
Is Raeford, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Raeford reports less crime per resident than 50% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #32 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 1.4 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 Raeford?
1.4 violent and 13.1 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.
Who polices Raeford?
Raeford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Raeford”. 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 Raeford.
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.