Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBroken Bow reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Broken Bow’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A for safety: #1 of 37 graded towns in Nebraska.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NE” is every other Nebraska 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 Broken Bow
A job center
Broken Bow has 2,834 jobs based in town for 3,507 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 Broken Bow’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Broken Bow’s police reported 9 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the rest of Nebraska and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Broken Bow | Rest of Nebraska | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, fewer than 1 property crime 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.
Reported crime is steady
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 Nebraska.
Show as a table
| Year | Broken Bow property | Rest of Nebraska property | Broken Bow violent | Rest of Nebraska violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.2 | 26.0 | 0.3 | 3.9 |
| 2023 | 0.3 | 20.2 | 0.6 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | 1.4 | 23.0 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 18.6 | 1.1 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
5 crimes reported in 2025
4 violent and 1 property, as reported to the FBI by Broken Bow’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
No one died in a crash on Broken Bow’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for Nebraska towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (0.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Broken Bow’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Broken Bow’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Broken Bow and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Bow | A | 0.9 | 0.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Nebraska towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Bow | A | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Valley | A | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| Gothenburg | A | 0.4 | 3.4 |
| Cozad | A | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| Minden | A− | 0.9 | 4.3 |
| Falls City | B+ | 1.2 | 7.0 |
The five graded Nebraska towns closest to Broken Bow’s population (3,507), 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 Broken Bow. 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 Broken Bow’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,486 in 2025); our figure for Broken Bow is 3,507 (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 Broken Bow
Is Broken Bow, NE safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Broken Bow reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #1 of 37 in Nebraska. Its police reported 0.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the rest of Nebraska and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Broken Bow?
0.9 violent and 0.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Nebraska reports 2.8 and 20.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Broken Bow?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Broken Bow?
Broken Bow’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Broken Bow”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Broken Bow.
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.