Roanoke Canal · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Roanoke Rapids reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Roanoke Rapids’ police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #143 of 163 graded towns in North Carolina.
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 Roanoke Rapids
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 North Carolina towns on Roanoke Rapids’ borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Weldon (C−). South Rosemary is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Neighbors ↓
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 Roanoke Rapids’ 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.
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 | Roanoke Rapids property | Rest of North Carolina property | Roanoke Rapids violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 45.9 | 28.8 | 7.4 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 51.0 | 29.6 | 8.4 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 33.8 | 28.8 | 9.0 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 38.7 | 25.2 | 8.3 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Roanoke Rapids’ police reported 373 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 8.6 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 | Roanoke Rapids | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 8.4 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 9.0 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 8.3 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 39 property crimes reported
And about 8 violent crimes, 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.
678 crimes reported in 2025
120 violent and 558 property, as reported to the FBI by Roanoke Rapids’ police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Six people died in crashes on Roanoke Rapids’s roads in 2019–2023
Roanoke Rapids had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 2 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
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 Roanoke Rapids’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Roanoke Rapids’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.
Roanoke Rapids and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Rapids | D− | 8.6 | 41.2 |
| South Rosemary | — | — | — |
| Weldon | C− | 2.9 | 27.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. South Rosemary is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Rapids | D− | 8.6 | 41.2 |
| Newton | C− | 4.1 | 20.9 |
| Eden | D | 4.5 | 24.9 |
| Reidsville | D | 6.0 | 30.0 |
| Laurinburg | D− | 16.3 | 45.8 |
| Henderson | D− | 15.6 | 52.6 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Roanoke Rapids’ population (14,386), 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 Roanoke Rapids. 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 Roanoke Rapids’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,422 in 2025); our figure for Roanoke Rapids is 14,386 (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 Roanoke Rapids
Is Roanoke Rapids, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Roanoke Rapids reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #143 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 8.6 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 Roanoke Rapids?
8.6 violent and 41.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.0 and 27.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Roanoke Rapids?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Roanoke Rapids safer than Weldon?
Weldon reports less crime per resident than Roanoke Rapids: Weldon grades C− for safety and Roanoke Rapids D−. Weldon’s police reported 2.9 violent and 27.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Roanoke Rapids?
Roanoke Rapids’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Roanoke Rapids”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Roanoke Rapids.
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.