George and Neva Barbee House · Photo: Matheny.michelle · CC BY-SA 3.0Zebulon reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Zebulon’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #90 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 Zebulon
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 North Carolina towns on Zebulon’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Wendell (B). Neighbors ↓
Among North Carolina towns, closer to the middle
North Carolina’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Zebulon’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 45% of the 163 North Carolina towns we grade, against 16% 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 Zebulon’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.
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 | Zebulon property | Rest of North Carolina property | Zebulon violent | Rest of North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30.9 | 28.9 | 5.9 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 30.2 | 29.6 | 3.9 | 5.5 |
| 2024 | 24.5 | 28.8 | 3.3 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 21.8 | 25.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 22 property crimes reported
And about 4 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Zebulon’s police reported 115 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.6 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 | Zebulon | Rest of North Carolina | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.3 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
297 crimes reported in 2025
44 violent and 253 property, as reported to the FBI by Zebulon’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 Zebulon’s roads in 2019–2023
Zebulon had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
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 Zebulon’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Zebulon’s own rate (11.5) 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.
Zebulon and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
North Carolina towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zebulon | C− | 3.6 | 25.3 |
| Elon | A | 0.6 | 4.0 |
| Archdale | B− | 1.0 | 13.2 |
| Lincolnton | C− | 3.2 | 23.9 |
| Kings Mountain | D | 5.9 | 23.7 |
| Pineville | D− | 7.2 | 82.9 |
The five graded North Carolina towns closest to Zebulon’s population (11,933), 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 Zebulon. 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 Zebulon’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,612 in 2025); our figure for Zebulon is 11,933 (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 Zebulon
Is Zebulon, NC safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Zebulon reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #90 of 163 in North Carolina. Its police reported 3.6 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 Zebulon?
3.6 violent and 25.3 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 crime going up or down in Zebulon?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Zebulon safer than Wendell?
Wendell reports less crime per resident than Zebulon: Wendell grades B for safety and Zebulon C−. Wendell’s police reported 1.1 violent and 10.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Zebulon?
Zebulon’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Zebulon”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Zebulon.
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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.