Belen Hotel · Photo: AzaniahT · CC BY-SA 3.0Belen reports more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
On crimes reported to the FBI by Belen’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 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’s behind Belen’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Belen’s police reported 286 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 12.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.4 in the rest of New Mexico and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Belen | Rest of New Mexico | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 13.4 | 9.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 11.6 | 8.6 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 13.0 | 7.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 48 property crimes reported
And about 13 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.
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
| Year | Belen property | Rest of New Mexico property | Belen violent | Rest of New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 44.6 | 38.5 | 11.0 | 9.7 |
| 2023 | 35.4 | 38.0 | 13.4 | 9.4 |
| 2024 | 42.4 | 36.3 | 11.6 | 8.6 |
| 2025 | 47.9 | 29.0 | 13.0 | 7.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
463 crimes reported in 2025
99 violent and 364 property, as reported to the FBI by Belen’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Eight people died in crashes on Belen’s roads in 2019–2023
Belen had 8 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people died; 2 were pedestrians. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is more than 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 Belen’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Belen’s own rate (21.5) 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.
Belen and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belen | D− | 12.7 | 41.9 |
| Los Chaves | — | — | — |
| Jarales | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Los Chaves and Jarales are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
New Mexico towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belen | D− | 12.7 | 41.9 |
| Corrales | A− | 1.5 | 3.7 |
| Grants | C | 4.1 | 11.3 |
| Bernalillo | C− | 5.1 | 15.0 |
| Bloomfield | C− | 6.2 | 13.4 |
| Taos | D− | 8.8 | 49.7 |
The five graded New Mexico towns closest to Belen’s population (7,589), 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 Belen. 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 Belen’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,605 in 2025); our figure for Belen is 7,589 (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 Belen
Is Belen, NM safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Belen reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 12.7 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 Belen?
12.7 violent and 41.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Mexico reports 8.4 and 34.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Belen?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Belen?
Belen’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Belen”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Belen.
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.