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Lakewood Bay Oswego LakePhoto: Esprqii · CC BY-SA 3.0
B
Safety in Lake Oswego · FBI data, 2023–2025

On violent crime, Lake Oswego has a lower rate per resident than 81% of U.S. towns

One of the 3 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Out of every 1,000 residents, 0.6 violent crime and 11.2 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 3.9 and 30.6 in the rest of Oregon. Lake Oswego grades B for safety overall (#8 of 74 graded towns in Oregon): less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. On top of that, the crimes the grade counts fell 30% per resident from 2023 to 2025.

Violent crime
0.6
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of OR (3.9)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
11.2
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of OR (30.6)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
1,405
70 violent · 1,335 property
2023–2025
Trend
▼ Falling
2023 to 2025
beyond ordinary swings

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of OR” is every other Oregon 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 Lake Oswego

1 of the 3 graded towns next door reports less crime

Of the 5 Oregon towns on Lake Oswego’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: West Linn (B+), Tualatin (C−), Portland (D−). Stafford and Oak Grove are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓

Among Oregon towns, higher

Oregon’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lake Oswego’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 89% of the 74 Oregon towns we grade, against 63% 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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Lake Oswego’s grade

Where Lake Oswego sits
A− Violent 0.6B− Property 11.2
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 63%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Oregon towns we grade (74)Less crime than 89% · #8 of 74
Places of 25,000–100,000 people (1,371)Less crime than 77%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,405 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Lake Oswego anywhere from B to B+.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Lake Oswego’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.2) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Lake Oswego’s police reported 70 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Oregon and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

Trend

Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025

Show as a table
YearLake Oswego propertyRest of Oregon propertyLake Oswego violentRest of Oregon violent
202215.836.80.84.1
202313.433.10.63.9
202411.031.10.74.0
20259.227.70.63.7

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 Oregon.

1,000 neighbors · one year

Crime in Lake Oswego per 1,000 residents

Property crime (9.2)Violent crime (0.6)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Lake Oswego0.6
Rest of OR3.7
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Lake Oswego9.2
Rest of OR27.7
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.

And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

What gets reported

389 crimes reported in 2025

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft269
Burglary64
Vehicle theft34
Aggravated assault19
Robbery0
Rape3
Homicide0
Arson5
22
violent crimes
367
property crimes

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

22 violent and 367 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Oswego’s police.

On the roads

Three people died in crashes on Lake Oswego’s roads in 2019–2023

Lake Oswego had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.

That is about what is typical for Oregon towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (3.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Lake Oswego’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lake Oswego’s own rate (1.5) is context, not a ranking.

3
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
1
pedestrian among them
0
cyclists among them
1.5
per 100,000 a year · Oregon towns of 25,000–100,000: 3.5

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

Lake Oswego and its neighbors

A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
Lake OswegoB0.611.2
Stafford———
Oak Grove———
PortlandD−7.154.7
West LinnB+0.59.0
TualatinC−2.128.3

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Stafford and Oak Grove are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.

Oregon towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
Lake OswegoB0.611.2
Oregon CityC+2.412.3
McMinnvilleC+2.015.5
KeizerC2.019.4
RedmondC2.121.7
Grants PassD3.929.1

The five graded Oregon towns closest to Lake Oswego’s population (39,722), by grade.

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

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 Lake Oswego. 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 Lake Oswego’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (39,817 in 2025); our figure for Lake Oswego is 39,722 (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 Lake Oswego

Is Lake Oswego, OR safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Oswego reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #8 of 74 in Oregon. Its police reported 0.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Oregon and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

What is the crime rate in Lake Oswego?

0.6 violent and 11.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Oregon reports 3.9 and 30.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.

How many homicides were there in Lake Oswego in 2025?

Lake Oswego’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.

Is Lake Oswego safer than Portland?

Portland reports more crime per resident than Lake Oswego: Portland grades D− for safety and Lake Oswego B. Portland’s police reported 7.1 violent and 54.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Who polices Lake Oswego?

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

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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.