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Aztec Public Library New MexicoPhoto: AllenS · Public domain
C−
Safety in Aztec · FBI data, 2023–2025

Aztec reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns

On crimes reported to the FBI by Aztec’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #11 of 29 graded towns in New Mexico.

Violent crime
5.2
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of NM (8.4)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
14.1
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of NM (34.5)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
353
95 violent · 258 property
2023–2025
Trend
→ Steady
2023 to 2025
within ordinary swings

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of NM” is every other New Mexico 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 · In brief

What stands out about safety in Aztec

Aztec reports less crime than every graded town next door

Of the 4 New Mexico towns on Aztec’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Bloomfield (C−). Center Point, South River and Spencerville are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓

Among New Mexico towns, closer to the middle

New Mexico’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Aztec’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 62% of the 29 New Mexico towns we grade, against 21% nationally. Safety Grade ↓

Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Aztec’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its property rate (14.1) 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.

Where Aztec sits
D Violent 5.2C+ Property 14.1
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 21%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
New Mexico towns we grade (29)Less crime than 62% · #11 of 29
Places of 5,000–25,000 people (3,282)Less crime than 20%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 353 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Aztec anywhere from C− to C.

How TownRatings grades safety →

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 16 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.

Property crime (16.4)Violent crime (3.8)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Aztec3.8
Rest of NM7.2
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Aztec16.4
Rest of NM29.2
U.S. (FBI)15.5

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

Violent crime, by year and by type

Aztec’s police reported 95 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.4 in the rest of New Mexico and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

Trend

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 New Mexico.

Show as a table
YearAztec propertyRest of New Mexico propertyAztec violentRest of New Mexico violent
202213.738.74.79.8
202311.338.17.29.4
202414.636.54.68.6
202516.429.23.87.2

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

123 crimes reported in 2025

23 violent and 100 property, as reported to the FBI by Aztec’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft68
Burglary12
Vehicle theft20
Aggravated assault19
Robbery0
Rape4
Homicide0
Arson0
23
violent crimes
100
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

One person died in crashes on Aztec’s roads in 2019–2023

Aztec had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.

That is about what is typical for New Mexico towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Aztec’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Aztec’s own rate (3.3) is context, not a ranking.

1
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
3.3
per 100,000 a year · New Mexico towns of 5,000–25,000: 6.7

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.

Next door

Aztec and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
AztecC−5.214.1
Center Point———
South River———
Spencerville———
BloomfieldC−6.213.4

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Center Point, South River and Spencerville are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.

New Mexico towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
AztecC−5.214.1
EdgewoodC3.215.0
RatonC4.111.4
Truth or ConsequencesC−5.818.8
TaosD−8.849.7
BelenD−12.741.9

The five graded New Mexico towns closest to Aztec’s population (6,091), by grade.

How to read these numbers

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 Aztec. 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 Aztec’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (6,111 in 2025); our figure for Aztec is 6,091 (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 Aztec

Is Aztec, NM safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Aztec reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #11 of 29 in New Mexico. Its police reported 5.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.4 in the rest of New Mexico and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

What is the crime rate in Aztec?

5.2 violent and 14.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Mexico reports 8.4 and 34.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

Is crime going up or down in Aztec?

Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.

Is Aztec safer than Bloomfield?

Bloomfield reports more crime per resident than Aztec: Bloomfield grades C− for safety and Aztec C−. Bloomfield’s police reported 6.2 violent and 13.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Who polices Aztec?

Aztec’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Aztec”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

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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.