Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY 4.0Crime per resident in Portsmouth runs higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes Portsmouth’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #285 of 296 graded towns in Ohio. Each year brought 7.1 violent crimes and 37.7 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (3.7 and 19.5 in the rest of Ohio). The rate the grade counts dropped 27% from 2023 to 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 stands out about safety in Portsmouth
A college town
Portsmouth is home to Shawnee State University, with 2,631 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 8% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Portsmouth has 11,919 jobs based in town for 17,282 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 Portsmouth’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Portsmouth property | Rest of Ohio property | Portsmouth violent | Rest of Ohio violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.0 | 22.6 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 43.7 | 21.0 | 7.7 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 38.6 | 19.8 | 7.1 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 30.9 | 17.8 | 6.5 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Ohio.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Portsmouth | Rest of Ohio | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Portsmouth’s police reported 369 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 7.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Portsmouth per 1,000 residents
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.
And about 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
647 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
112 violent and 535 property, as reported to the FBI by Portsmouth’s police.
Seven people died in crashes on Portsmouth’s roads in 2019–2023
Portsmouth had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 4 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for Ohio towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Portsmouth’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Portsmouth’s own rate (7.9) 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.
Portsmouth and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | D | 7.1 | 37.7 |
| Clay Township | — | — | — |
| New Boston | — | — | — |
| Rosemount | — | — | — |
| Porter Township | — | — | — |
| Harrison Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Clay Township, Porter Township and Harrison Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. New Boston reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Rosemount is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
Ohio towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | D | 7.1 | 37.7 |
| Mount Vernon | A− | 0.9 | 5.0 |
| Norwalk | B+ | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| New Philadelphia | B+ | 1.2 | 6.0 |
| North Canton | B+ | 0.6 | 10.5 |
| Defiance | C+ | 2.3 | 12.2 |
The five graded Ohio towns closest to Portsmouth’s population (17,282), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
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 Portsmouth. 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 Portsmouth’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (17,315 in 2025); our figure for Portsmouth is 17,282 (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 Portsmouth
Is Portsmouth, OH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Portsmouth reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #285 of 296 in Ohio. Its police reported 7.1 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 Portsmouth?
7.1 violent and 37.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Ohio reports 3.7 and 19.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Portsmouth?
Portsmouth’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Portsmouth”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Portsmouth.
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.