Photo: Captain Budd Christman, NOAA Corps · Public domainSunland Park reports less property crime than most U.S. towns, but more violent crime
Overall, Sunland Park grades B− for safety (#5 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 Sunland Park
Among New Mexico towns, closer to the middle
New Mexico’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Sunland Park’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 83% of the 29 New Mexico towns we grade, against 47% 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 Sunland Park’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Sunland Park’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (3.4) 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.
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, 2022–2025, against the rest of New Mexico.
Show as a table
| Year | Sunland Park property | Rest of New Mexico property | Sunland Park violent | Rest of New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.8 | 39.0 | 4.6 | 9.8 |
| 2023 | 7.5 | 38.4 | 4.1 | 9.5 |
| 2024 | 5.8 | 36.8 | 3.3 | 8.7 |
| 2025 | 5.9 | 29.5 | 2.7 | 7.3 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Sunland Park’s police reported 183 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.5 in the rest of New Mexico and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Sunland Park | Rest of New Mexico | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.6 | 9.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.1 | 9.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.3 | 8.7 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.7 | 7.3 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 6 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
161 crimes reported in 2025
51 violent and 110 property, as reported to the FBI by Sunland Park’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 Sunland Park’s roads in 2019–2023
Sunland Park had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which eight people 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 Sunland Park’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Sunland Park’s own rate (9.2) 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.
Sunland Park and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunland Park | B− | 3.4 | 6.4 |
| Santa Teresa | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Santa Teresa is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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 Sunland Park. 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 Sunland Park’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,549 in 2025); our figure for Sunland Park is 18,268 (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 Sunland Park
Is Sunland Park, NM safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Sunland Park reports more crime per resident than 53% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #5 of 29 in New Mexico. Its police reported 3.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.5 in the rest of New Mexico and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Sunland Park?
3.4 violent and 6.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New Mexico reports 8.5 and 34.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Sunland Park?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Sunland Park?
Sunland Park’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Sunland Park”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Sunland Park.
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.