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Tripp House and Store ComplexTripp House and Store Complex · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+
Safety in Durham · FBI data, 2023–2025

Durham reports less crime per resident than almost every U.S. town

On crimes reported to the FBI by Durham’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A+ for safety: #3 of 236 graded towns in New York.

Violent crime
0.0
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of NY (5.0)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
0.6
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of NY (21.0)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
5
0 violent · 5 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 NY” is every other New York 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 Durham

Durham reports less crime than every graded town next door

Of the 4 New York towns on Durham’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Windham (A+), Cairo (A+). Greenville and Rensselaerville have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓

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

Safety Grade

What’s behind Durham’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.

Where Durham sits
A+ Violent 0.0A+ Property 0.6
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 99%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
New York towns we grade (236)Less crime than 99% · #3 of 236
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,448)Less crime than 98%
A firm grade. Built on 5 reported crimes over three years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn’t change the letter.

How TownRatings grades safety →

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, fewer than 1 property crime reported

And no violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (0.4)Violent crime (0)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Durham0.0
Rest of NY4.9
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Durham0.4
Rest of NY19.7
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.

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 York.

Show as a table
YearDurham propertyRest of New York propertyDurham violentRest of New York violent
20221.920.00.05.6
20231.522.20.05.1
20240.021.30.05.0
20250.419.70.04.9

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

1 crime reported in 2025

0 violent and 1 property, as reported to the FBI by Durham’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft0
Burglary1
Vehicle theft0
Aggravated assault0
Robbery0
Rape0
Homicide0
Arson0
0
violent crimes
1
property crimes

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

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Durham’s police reported 0 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

On the roads

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

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

That is about what is typical for New York towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (6.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Durham’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Durham’s own rate (7.6) is context, not a ranking.

1
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
7.6
per 100,000 a year · New York towns of 2,500–5,000: 6.1

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

Durham 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
DurhamA+0.00.6
WindhamA+0.01.2
Greenville———
CairoA+0.03.6
Rensselaerville———

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Greenville and Rensselaerville have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.

New York towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
DurhamA+0.00.6
PiermontA+0.21.7
HarrimanA0.33.7
RhinebeckA0.15.7
BlasdellC+1.616.6
YorkvilleD4.143.2

The five graded New York towns closest to Durham’s population (2,603), 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 Durham. 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 Durham’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,603 in 2025); our figure for Durham is 2,603 (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 Durham

Is Durham, NY safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Durham reports less crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade and #3 of 236 in New York. Its police reported 0.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.0 in the rest of New York and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

What is the crime rate in Durham?

0.0 violent and 0.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of New York reports 5.0 and 21.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

Is crime going up or down in Durham?

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

Is Durham safer than Windham?

Windham reports more crime per resident than Durham: Windham grades A+ for safety and Durham A+. Windham’s police reported 0.0 violent and 1.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Who polices Durham?

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

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Durham.

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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.