Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Downingtown sees less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Violence and property crime split as 0.7 violent crime and 21.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 2.9 and 17.5 in the rest of Pennsylvania. Overall, Downingtown grades C+ for safety (#475 of 578 graded towns in Pennsylvania): more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 34% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Downingtown
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 Pennsylvania towns on Downingtown’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Caln Township (C+). East Caln Township and West Bradford Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Pennsylvania towns, lower
Pennsylvania’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Downingtown’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 18% of the 578 Pennsylvania towns we grade, against 37% 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 Downingtown’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Downingtown’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Downingtown property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Downingtown violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 27.1 | 19.0 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 20.9 | 17.3 | 1.0 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 17.5 | 16.1 | 0.7 | 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Downingtown | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Downingtown’s police reported 17 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.9 in the rest of Pennsylvania and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Downingtown 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
156 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.
6 violent and 150 property, as reported to the FBI by Downingtown’s police.
One person died in crashes on Downingtown’s roads in 2019–2023
Downingtown had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person 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 Downingtown’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Downingtown’s own rate (2.4) 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.
Downingtown and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downingtown | C+ | 0.7 | 21.8 |
| East Caln Township | — | — | — |
| Caln Township | C+ | 2.1 | 14.4 |
| West Bradford Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. East Caln Township and West Bradford Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downingtown | C+ | 0.7 | 21.8 |
| West Earl Township | A+ | 0.3 | 2.8 |
| Gettysburg | B+ | 1.3 | 5.1 |
| North Coventry Township | B | 0.5 | 12.6 |
| Kennedy Township | C | 2.9 | 14.6 |
| Brookhaven | C | 1.1 | 23.5 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Downingtown’s population (8,384), 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 Downingtown. 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 Downingtown’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,578 in 2025); our figure for Downingtown is 8,384 (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 Downingtown
Is Downingtown, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Downingtown reports more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #475 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 0.7 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 Downingtown?
0.7 violent and 21.8 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 Downingtown safer than Caln Township?
Caln Township reports less crime per resident than Downingtown: Caln Township grades C+ for safety and Downingtown C+. Caln Township’s police reported 2.1 violent and 14.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Downingtown?
Downingtown’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Downingtown”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Downingtown.
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.