Photo: AllenS · Public domainBernalillo reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Bernalillo’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #12 of 29 graded towns in New Mexico.
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 about safety in Bernalillo
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 New Mexico towns on Bernalillo’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Rio Rancho (C). Placitas and Santa Ana Pueblo 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 Bernalillo’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 59% of the 29 New Mexico towns we grade, against 20% 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 Bernalillo’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 (15.0) 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.
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of New Mexico.
Show as a table
| Year | Bernalillo property | Rest of New Mexico property | Bernalillo violent | Rest of New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 15.8 | 38.2 | 6.4 | 9.4 |
| 2024 | 13.1 | 36.5 | 4.8 | 8.7 |
| 2025 | 16.0 | 29.2 | 4.0 | 7.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
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
Bernalillo’s police reported 147 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.1 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 | Bernalillo | Rest of New Mexico | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6.4 | 9.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.8 | 8.7 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 4.0 | 7.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
184 crimes reported in 2025
37 violent and 147 property, as reported to the FBI by Bernalillo’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Six people died in crashes on Bernalillo’s roads in 2019–2023
Bernalillo had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 3 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash 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 Bernalillo’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bernalillo’s own rate (13.2) 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.
Bernalillo and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernalillo | C− | 5.1 | 15.0 |
| Placitas | — | — | — |
| Santa Ana Pueblo | — | — | — |
| Rio Rancho | C | 3.5 | 12.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Placitas and Santa Ana Pueblo are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
New Mexico towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernalillo | C− | 5.1 | 15.0 |
| Corrales | A− | 1.5 | 3.7 |
| Grants | C | 4.1 | 11.3 |
| Bloomfield | C− | 6.2 | 13.4 |
| Portales | D | 6.3 | 20.2 |
| Belen | D− | 12.7 | 41.9 |
The five graded New Mexico towns closest to Bernalillo’s population (9,159), 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 Bernalillo. 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 Bernalillo’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,194 in 2025); our figure for Bernalillo is 9,159 (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 Bernalillo
Is Bernalillo, NM safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bernalillo reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #12 of 29 in New Mexico. Its police reported 5.1 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 Bernalillo?
5.1 violent and 15.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Mexico reports 8.4 and 34.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Bernalillo?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Bernalillo safer than Rio Rancho?
Rio Rancho reports less crime per resident than Bernalillo: Rio Rancho grades C for safety and Bernalillo C−. Rio Rancho’s police reported 3.5 violent and 12.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Bernalillo?
Bernalillo’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bernalillo”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bernalillo.
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.