Sperling Building · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWilkinsburg has more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
All 3 towns next door with figures record less crime per resident. Wilkinsburg’s police logs show 6.4 violent crimes and 20.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of Pennsylvania the numbers are 2.9 and 17.5. Measured on crimes Wilkinsburg’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #555 of 578 graded towns in 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 Wilkinsburg
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Pennsylvania towns on Wilkinsburg’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Churchill (A−), Edgewood (C), Pittsburgh (D). Penn Hills and Braddock Hills reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Wilkinsburg’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 | Wilkinsburg | Rest of Pennsylvania | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.9 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Wilkinsburg’s police reported 265 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.4 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 Wilkinsburg 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 7 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 | Wilkinsburg property | Rest of Pennsylvania property | Wilkinsburg violent | Rest of Pennsylvania violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 19.5 | 19.1 | 6.8 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 24.4 | 17.3 | 5.9 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 17.8 | 16.0 | 6.7 | 2.6 |
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, 2023–2025, against the rest of Pennsylvania.
334 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.
91 violent and 243 property, as reported to the FBI by Wilkinsburg’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Wilkinsburg’s roads in 2019–2023
Wilkinsburg had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died.
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 Wilkinsburg’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wilkinsburg’s own rate (5.7) 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.
Wilkinsburg and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkinsburg | D | 6.4 | 20.6 |
| Pittsburgh | D | 4.7 | 23.8 |
| Penn Hills | — | — | — |
| Edgewood | C | 1.6 | 25.4 |
| Churchill | A− | 1.1 | 3.0 |
| Braddock Hills | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Penn Hills and Braddock Hills reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025.
Pennsylvania towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilkinsburg | D | 6.4 | 20.6 |
| Upper Uwchlan Township | A+ | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| South Park Township | A | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| New Hanover Township | A | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| Amity Township | A | 0.6 | 3.9 |
| Ephrata | A− | 0.3 | 8.6 |
The five graded Pennsylvania towns closest to Wilkinsburg’s population (13,602), 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 Wilkinsburg. 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 Wilkinsburg’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (13,671 in 2025); our figure for Wilkinsburg is 13,602 (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 Wilkinsburg
Is Wilkinsburg, PA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wilkinsburg reports more crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #555 of 578 in Pennsylvania. Its police reported 6.4 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 Wilkinsburg?
6.4 violent and 20.6 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 Wilkinsburg safer than Pittsburgh?
Pittsburgh reports less crime per resident than Wilkinsburg: Pittsburgh grades D for safety and Wilkinsburg D. Pittsburgh’s police reported 4.7 violent and 23.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wilkinsburg?
Wilkinsburg’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wilkinsburg”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Wilkinsburg.
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.