Angell-Ballou House · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Smithfield reports less crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Smithfield’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A− for safety: #19 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 Smithfield
1 of the 5 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Rhode Island towns on Smithfield’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Glocester (A+), North Providence (B+), Lincoln (B), North Smithfield (B), Johnston (B). Neighbors ↓
Among Rhode Island towns, closer to the middle
Rhode Island’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Smithfield’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 47% of the 36 Rhode Island towns we grade, against 75% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Smithfield is home to Bryant University, with 3,504 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 17% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Smithfield has 13,656 jobs based in town for 22,625 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Smithfield’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Smithfield’s police reported 32 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.
Show as a table
| Year | Smithfield | Rest of Rhode Island | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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.
Reported crime is steady
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Smithfield property | Rest of Rhode Island property | Smithfield violent | Rest of Rhode Island violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.2 | 12.9 | 0.4 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 7.3 | 11.1 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 9.3 | 10.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 7.9 | 8.9 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
192 crimes reported in 2025
14 violent and 178 property, as reported to the FBI by Smithfield’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
11 people died in crashes on Smithfield’s roads in 2019–2023
Smithfield had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 2 were pedestrians. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 9.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Rhode Island towns of 5,000–25,000 people (4.8, 31 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.
Smithfield and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | A− | 0.5 | 8.2 |
| Lincoln | B | 0.8 | 10.4 |
| Johnston | B | 1.2 | 10.1 |
| Glocester | A+ | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| North Smithfield | B | 0.6 | 11.5 |
| North Providence | B+ | 1.0 | 7.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Rhode Island towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | A− | 0.5 | 8.2 |
| Bristol | A+ | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| North Kingstown | A− | 0.6 | 6.4 |
| Westerly | B+ | 0.6 | 8.6 |
| Newport | C+ | 1.9 | 14.5 |
| Central Falls | C+ | 3.4 | 9.1 |
The five graded Rhode Island towns closest to Smithfield’s population (22,625), by grade.
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 Smithfield. 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 Smithfield’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (22,605 in 2025); our figure for Smithfield is 22,625 (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 Smithfield
Is Smithfield, RI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Smithfield reports less crime per resident than 75% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #19 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 Smithfield?
0.5 violent and 8.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Rhode Island reports 1.5 and 10.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Smithfield?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Smithfield safer than Lincoln?
Lincoln reports more crime per resident than Smithfield: Lincoln grades B for safety and Smithfield A−. Lincoln’s police reported 0.8 violent and 10.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Smithfield?
Smithfield’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Smithfield”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Smithfield.
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.