Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY-SA 4.0Clayton reports less property crime than most U.S. towns, but more violent crime
Overall, Clayton grades B for safety (#3 of 29 graded towns in New Mexico): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Clayton
Among New Mexico towns, higher
New Mexico’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Clayton’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 90% of the 29 New Mexico towns we grade, against 59% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Clayton’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Clayton’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Clayton’s police reported 19 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.5 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 | Clayton | Rest of New Mexico | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 9.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 9.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.1 | 8.6 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 7.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 3 property crimes 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 New Mexico.
Show as a table
| Year | Clayton property | Rest of New Mexico property | Clayton violent | Rest of New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 38.6 | 1.4 | 9.8 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 38.1 | 1.6 | 9.4 |
| 2024 | 10.9 | 36.4 | 5.1 | 8.6 |
| 2025 | 2.8 | 29.2 | 0.8 | 7.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
9 crimes reported in 2025
2 violent and 7 property, as reported to the FBI by Clayton’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
One person died in crashes on Clayton’s roads in 2019–2023
Clayton had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.
That is about what is typical for New Mexico towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Clayton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Clayton’s own rate (7.3) 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.
Clayton and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | B | 2.5 | 5.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Clayton. 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 Clayton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,537 in 2025); our figure for Clayton is 2,510 (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 Clayton
Is Clayton, NM safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Clayton reports less crime per resident than 59% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #3 of 29 in New Mexico. Its police reported 2.5 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 Clayton?
2.5 violent and 5.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Mexico reports 8.4 and 34.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Clayton?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Clayton?
Clayton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Clayton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Clayton.
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.