Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Portsmouth reports less crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Violence and property crime split as 0.5 violent crime and 3.1 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 1.5 and 10.1 in the rest of Rhode Island. The crimes the grade counts held steady per resident from 2023 to 2025. It grades A for safety on crimes Portsmouth’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #8 of 36 graded towns in Rhode Island.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of RI” is every other Rhode Island 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 Portsmouth
1 of the 8 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 8 Rhode Island towns on Portsmouth’s borders, 8 have a Safety Grade: Bristol (A+), Jamestown (A), Little Compton (A), Barrington (A), North Kingstown (A−), Tiverton (A−), Middletown (B+), Warwick (B). Neighbors ↓
Among Rhode Island towns, closer to the middle
Rhode Island’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Portsmouth’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 78% of the 36 Rhode Island towns we grade, against 92% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Portsmouth’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Portsmouth | Rest of Rhode Island | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Portsmouth’s police reported 24 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.5 in the rest of Rhode Island and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Portsmouth 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
How crime in Portsmouth has moved
Show as a table
| Year | Portsmouth property | Rest of Rhode Island property | Portsmouth violent | Rest of Rhode Island violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.5 | 12.9 | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 2.7 | 11.1 | 0.9 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 10.2 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 9.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
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, 2022–2025, against the rest of Rhode Island.
59 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.
7 violent and 52 property, as reported to the FBI by Portsmouth’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Portsmouth’s roads in 2019–2023
Portsmouth had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died.
That is about what is typical for Rhode Island towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (4.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Portsmouth’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Portsmouth’s own rate (3.4) 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.
Portsmouth and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | A | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Bristol | A+ | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Tiverton | A− | 0.9 | 6.4 |
| Warwick | B | 0.8 | 10.9 |
| North Kingstown | A− | 0.6 | 6.4 |
| Middletown | B+ | 1.0 | 7.1 |
| Jamestown | A | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Little Compton | A | 0.4 | 5.1 |
| Barrington | A | 0.4 | 5.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Rhode Island towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | A | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| Burrillville | A | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| Narragansett | A | 0.6 | 3.9 |
| East Greenwich | A− | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| Smithfield | A− | 0.5 | 8.2 |
| Central Falls | C+ | 3.4 | 9.1 |
The five graded Rhode Island towns closest to Portsmouth’s population (17,474), 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 Portsmouth. 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 Portsmouth’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (17,253 in 2025); our figure for Portsmouth is 17,474 (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 Portsmouth
Is Portsmouth, RI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Portsmouth reports less crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #8 of 36 in Rhode Island. Its police reported 0.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 1.5 in the rest of Rhode Island and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Portsmouth?
0.5 violent and 3.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Rhode Island reports 1.5 and 10.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Portsmouth safer than Bristol?
Bristol reports less crime per resident than Portsmouth: Bristol grades A+ for safety and Portsmouth A. Bristol’s police reported 0.3 violent and 2.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Portsmouth?
Portsmouth’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Portsmouth”. 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 Portsmouth.
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.