Photo: Crimsonedge34 · CC BY-SA 3.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Lawton than in 93% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts held about level from 2023 to 2025. Measured on crimes Lawton’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #115 of 124 graded towns in Oklahoma. Per 1,000 residents a year, 7.8 violent crimes and 24.7 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 4.6 and 22.5 in the rest of Oklahoma. What’s more, violent crime here is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 85%.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of OK” is every other Oklahoma 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 Lawton’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Lawton | Rest of Oklahoma | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.4 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.7 | 4.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 8.2 | 4.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 7.6 | 4.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lawton’s police reported 2,133 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 7.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.6 in the rest of Oklahoma and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Lawton 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 8 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Lawton property | Rest of Oklahoma property | Lawton violent | Rest of Oklahoma violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.7 | 26.4 | 8.4 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 24.5 | 24.4 | 7.7 | 4.6 |
| 2024 | 26.5 | 22.6 | 8.2 | 4.8 |
| 2025 | 23.0 | 20.6 | 7.6 | 4.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Oklahoma.
2,755 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.
684 violent and 2,071 property, as reported to the FBI by Lawton’s police.
30 people died in crashes on Lawton’s roads in 2019–2023
Lawton had 30 fatal crashes in five years, in which 30 people died; 11 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 5 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 6.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Oklahoma towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.1, 13 towns).
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.
Lawton and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawton | D | 7.8 | 24.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Oklahoma towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawton | D | 7.8 | 24.7 |
| Edmond | B− | 1.5 | 13.4 |
| Broken Arrow | B− | 2.1 | 12.1 |
| Moore | C+ | 2.2 | 15.4 |
| Norman | C | 2.7 | 21.1 |
| Midwest City | C− | 3.5 | 22.6 |
The five graded Oklahoma towns closest to Lawton’s population (90,503), 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 Lawton. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Lawton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (89,942 in 2025); our figure for Lawton is 90,503 (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 Lawton
Is Lawton, OK safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lawton reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #115 of 124 in Oklahoma. Its police reported 7.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.6 in the rest of Oklahoma and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Lawton?
7.8 violent and 24.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Oklahoma reports 4.6 and 22.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Lawton in 2025?
Lawton’s police reported 3 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Lawton?
Lawton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lawton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Lawton.
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.