Photo: Bonita L. Harless · CC BY-SA 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in West Jefferson than in 95% of U.S. towns
The crimes the grade counts fell 35% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Violent crime is lower than in 68% of U.S. towns; property crime, lower than in only 1%. The grade is D, built on crimes West Jefferson’s police reported from 2023 to 2025. Recorded violent crime ran at 1.0 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 61.9, against 5.0 and 27.9 in the rest of 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 West Jefferson
A job center
West Jefferson has 2,017 jobs based in town for 1,348 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 West Jefferson’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds West Jefferson’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | West Jefferson property | Rest of North Carolina property | West Jefferson violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 82.5 | 28.9 | 4.9 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 85.1 | 29.6 | 1.5 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 44.8 | 28.8 | 0.7 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 55.7 | 25.2 | 0.7 | 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 | West Jefferson | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.5 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Jefferson’s police reported 4 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.0 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 West Jefferson 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.
76 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.
1 violent and 75 property, as reported to the FBI by West Jefferson’s police.
One person died in crashes on West Jefferson’s roads in 2019–2023
West Jefferson 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 West Jefferson’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Jefferson’s own rate (13.9) 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.
West Jefferson and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Jefferson | D | 1.0 | 61.9 |
| Jefferson | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Jefferson reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Jefferson | D | 1.0 | 61.9 |
| Pine Knoll Shores | A− | 0.2 | 6.7 |
| Broadway | B | 0.7 | 12.5 |
| Blowing Rock | C | 1.0 | 22.4 |
| Weldon | C− | 2.9 | 27.0 |
| Atlantic Beach | D | 6.6 | 39.6 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to West Jefferson’s population (1,348), 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 West Jefferson. 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 West Jefferson’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,347 in 2025); our figure for West Jefferson is 1,348 (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 West Jefferson
Is West Jefferson, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Jefferson reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade. Its police reported 1.0 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 West Jefferson?
1.0 violent and 61.9 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 West Jefferson?
West Jefferson’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Jefferson”. 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 West Jefferson.
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.