Delaware County Courthouse · Photo: Christopher L. Riley · CC BY-SA 4.0Delaware sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Delaware grades B for safety (#146 of 296 graded towns in Ohio): 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 OH” is every other Ohio 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 Delaware’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Delaware’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (1.8) 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
Delaware’s police reported 247 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Delaware | Rest of Ohio | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 9 property crimes reported
And about 2 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 Ohio.
Show as a table
| Year | Delaware property | Rest of Ohio property | Delaware violent | Rest of Ohio violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.4 | 22.7 | 1.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 8.1 | 21.1 | 1.9 | 3.8 |
| 2024 | 9.9 | 19.9 | 1.5 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 9.3 | 17.9 | 1.9 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
538 crimes reported in 2025
92 violent and 446 property, as reported to the FBI by Delaware’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Seven people died in crashes on Delaware’s roads in 2019–2023
Delaware had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for Ohio towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (4.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Delaware’s size would see about 10 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Delaware’s own rate (3.1) 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.
Delaware and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | B | 1.8 | 9.1 |
| Delaware Township | — | — | — |
| Troy Township | — | — | — |
| Liberty Township | — | — | — |
| Brown Township | — | — | — |
| Scioto Township | — | — | — |
| Berlin Township | — | — | — |
| Concord Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Delaware Township, Troy Township, Liberty Township, Brown Township, Scioto Township, Berlin Township and Concord Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Ohio towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | B | 1.8 | 9.1 |
| Miami Township | A− | 0.7 | 6.9 |
| Strongsville | B+ | 0.7 | 9.7 |
| Mentor | B− | 1.2 | 12.7 |
| Euclid | B− | 1.7 | 12.9 |
| Mansfield | C− | 3.9 | 25.9 |
The five graded Ohio towns closest to Delaware’s population (46,636), 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 Delaware. 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 Delaware’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (47,808 in 2025); our figure for Delaware is 46,636 (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 Delaware
Is Delaware, OH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Delaware reports less crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #146 of 296 in Ohio. Its police reported 1.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Delaware?
1.8 violent and 9.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Ohio reports 3.7 and 19.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Delaware?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Delaware in 2025?
Delaware’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Delaware?
Delaware’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Delaware”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Delaware.
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.