Photo: Joseph E. B. Elliot · Public domainRecorded crime per resident in Columbia fell 44% from 2023 to 2025
It has more violent crime than 72% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 73%. The overall Safety Grade is C (#506 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania), which means more crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Typical years here bring 3.0 violent crimes plus 18.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 2.9 plus 17.5 in the rest of Pennsylvania.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of PA” is every other Pennsylvania 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 Columbia
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Pennsylvania towns on Columbia’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Manor Township (A). West Hempfield Township reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, lower
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Columbia’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 12% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 28% 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.
What’s behind Columbia’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. Its violent rate (3.0) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Columbia violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 21.5 | 19.1 | 4.2 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 20.3 | 17.3 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 12.4 | 16.1 | 1.8 | 2.6 |
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of Pennsylvania.
Crime in Columbia 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Columbia’s police reported 92 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
149 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.
19 violent and 130 property, as reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Columbia’s roads in 2019–2023
Columbia had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Pennsylvania towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Columbia’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Columbia’s own rate (5.8) 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.
Columbia and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C | 3.0 | 18.0 |
| West Hempfield Township | — | — | — |
| Manor Township | A | 0.7 | 2.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. West Hempfield Township reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C | 3.0 | 18.0 |
| Northampton | A | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| Lower Swatara Township | A− | 1.5 | 3.0 |
| Butler Township | A− | 0.6 | 7.0 |
| Berwick | B | 1.2 | 9.6 |
| Munhall | B− | 1.6 | 13.1 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Columbia’s population (10,314), 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 Columbia. 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 Columbia’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,448 in 2025); our figure for Columbia is 10,314 (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 Columbia
Is Columbia, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Columbia reports more crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #506 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 3.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Columbia?
3.0 violent and 18.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Pennsylvania reports 2.9 and 17.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Columbia safer than Manor Township?
Manor Township reports less crime per resident than Columbia: Manor Township grades A for safety and Columbia C. Manor Township’s police reported 0.7 violent and 2.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Columbia?
Columbia’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Columbia”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Columbia.
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.