Photo: M.O. Stevens · CC BY-SA 3.0Salem reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Salem’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #67 of 74 graded towns in Oregon, and #207 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 about safety in Salem
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 Oregon towns on Salem’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Keizer (C). Hayesville and Four Corners are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Salem’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 3.9 per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the rest of Oregon (4.3) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: above the rest of Oregon
89.3 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (146 reported in 2025), above the rest of Oregon (77.4) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Salem reports less crime per resident than 36% (#207). Places like 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 Salem’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 is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Salem property | Rest of Oregon property | Salem violent | Rest of Oregon violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 36.2 | 36.5 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 32.0 | 32.9 | 4.5 | 3.8 |
| 2024 | 28.0 | 31.0 | 5.3 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 23.2 | 27.7 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 23 property crimes reported
And about 4 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.
Homicides and robberies
Salem’s police reported 4 homicides, 146 robberies and 763 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Oregon and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Salem | Rest of Oregon | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Salem | Rest of Oregon | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 97.4 | 91.6 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 98.7 | 84.3 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 88.8 | 78.5 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 80.4 | 69.4 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
4,966 crimes reported in 2025
763 violent and 4,203 property, as reported to the FBI by Salem’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
78 people died in crashes on Salem’s roads in 2019–2023
Salem had 71 fatal crashes in five years, in which 78 people died; 26 were pedestrians and 6 were cyclists. 7 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Oregon towns of 100,000+ people (7.1, 6 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.
Salem and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | D | 4.7 | 27.7 |
| Hayesville | — | — | — |
| Four Corners | — | — | — |
| Keizer | C | 2.0 | 19.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hayesville and Four Corners are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 Salem. 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 Salem’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (181,534 in 2025); our figure for Salem is 181,779 (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 Salem
Is Salem, OR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Salem reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #67 of 74 in Oregon. Its police reported 4.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.8 in the rest of Oregon and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Salem?
4.7 violent and 27.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Oregon reports 3.8 and 30.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Salem?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Salem in 2025?
Salem’s police reported 4 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 2.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Salem safer than Keizer?
Keizer reports less crime per resident than Salem: Keizer grades C for safety and Salem D. Keizer’s police reported 2.0 violent and 19.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Salem?
Salem’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Salem”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Salem.
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.