Photo: Rysnap1024 · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Wake Forest fell 38% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Wake Forest grades B− for safety (#31 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 Wake Forest
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 North Carolina towns on Wake Forest’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Rolesville (A), Raleigh (D). Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, higher
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Wake Forest’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 81% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 51% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Wake Forest’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Wake Forest’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (12.9) 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.
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 | Wake Forest property | Rest of North Carolina property | Wake Forest violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.4 | 29.0 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 15.9 | 29.8 | 1.6 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 13.0 | 29.0 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 10.0 | 25.4 | 0.9 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Wake Forest’s police reported 216 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.1 in the rest of North Carolina and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Wake Forest | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 5.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 10 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.
639 crimes reported in 2025
50 violent and 589 property, as reported to the FBI by Wake Forest’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Five people died in crashes on Wake Forest’s roads in 2019–2023
Wake Forest had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died.
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 Wake Forest’s size would see about 21 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wake Forest’s own rate (1.9) 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.
Wake Forest and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest | B− | 1.3 | 12.9 |
| Rolesville | A | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| Raleigh | D | 4.7 | 25.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake Forest | B− | 1.3 | 12.9 |
| Kannapolis | C+ | 1.9 | 17.5 |
| Chapel Hill | C | 1.4 | 22.9 |
| Mooresville | C | 2.2 | 20.7 |
| Burlington | D | 8.0 | 31.3 |
| Rocky Mount | D− | 7.7 | 35.4 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Wake Forest’s population (58,147), 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 Wake Forest. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Wake Forest’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (58,676 in 2025); our figure for Wake Forest is 58,147 (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 Wake Forest
Is Wake Forest, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wake Forest reports less crime per resident than 51% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #31 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 1.3 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 Wake Forest?
1.3 violent and 12.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Carolina reports 5.1 and 28.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Wake Forest?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Wake Forest in 2025?
Wake Forest’s police reported 2 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 Wake Forest safer than Rolesville?
Rolesville reports less crime per resident than Wake Forest: Rolesville grades A for safety and Wake Forest B−. Rolesville’s police reported 0.5 violent and 3.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wake Forest?
Wake Forest’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wake Forest”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Wake Forest.
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.