Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Scottsbluff runs higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Violent crime here is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 94%. Annual rates stand at 5.0 violent crimes and 34.4 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 2.8 and 20.4 in the rest of Nebraska. On top of that, on crimes reported by Scottsbluff’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety.
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 Scottsbluff
A job center
Scottsbluff has 9,277 jobs based in town for 14,259 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 Scottsbluff’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.
Crime in Scottsbluff 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 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Scottsbluff | Rest of Nebraska | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.9 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.7 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Scottsbluff’s police reported 229 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.8 in the rest of Nebraska and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Scottsbluff property | Rest of Nebraska property | Scottsbluff violent | Rest of Nebraska violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.4 | 25.9 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| 2023 | 44.7 | 19.6 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| 2024 | 27.8 | 22.9 | 5.9 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 30.6 | 18.5 | 6.7 | 2.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
572 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.
103 violent and 469 property, as reported to the FBI by Scottsbluff’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Scottsbluff’s roads in 2019–2023
Scottsbluff had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Nebraska towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (2.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Scottsbluff’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Scottsbluff’s own rate (4.2) 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.
Scottsbluff and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsbluff | D | 5.0 | 34.4 |
| Gering | — | — | — |
| Terrytown | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Gering reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Terrytown has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Nebraska towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottsbluff | D | 5.0 | 34.4 |
| Beatrice | B+ | 0.9 | 7.9 |
| La Vista | B | 0.6 | 12.8 |
| Lexington | B− | 1.0 | 13.2 |
| North Platte | C | 1.4 | 21.8 |
| South Sioux City | C | 1.8 | 23.9 |
The five graded Nebraska towns closest to Scottsbluff’s population (14,259), 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 Scottsbluff. 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 Scottsbluff’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (15,337 in 2025); our figure for Scottsbluff is 14,259 (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 Scottsbluff
Is Scottsbluff, NE safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Scottsbluff reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade. Its police reported 5.0 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 Scottsbluff?
5.0 violent and 34.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Nebraska reports 2.8 and 20.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Scottsbluff?
Scottsbluff’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Scottsbluff”. 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 Scottsbluff.
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.