Photo: AppalachianCentrist · CC BY-SA 4.0More crimes per resident are recorded in Bristol than in 81% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 32% from 2023 to 2025. Measured on crimes Bristol’s police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of C−: #89 of 129 graded towns in Tennessee. By contrast, for every 1,000 residents, 3.8 violent crimes and 22.0 incidents of property crime were logged a year; in the rest of Tennessee, the figures are 8.2 and 30.1.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of TN” is every other Tennessee 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 Bristol
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 3 Tennessee towns on Bristol’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Bluff City (C). Walnut Hill and Blountville are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among Tennessee towns, closer to the middle
Tennessee’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Bristol’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 31% of the 129 Tennessee towns we grade, against 19% 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 Bristol’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Bristol property | Rest of Tennessee property | Bristol violent | Rest of Tennessee violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.0 | 33.6 | 5.0 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | 28.1 | 35.4 | 4.2 | 9.1 |
| 2024 | 19.6 | 30.7 | 3.6 | 8.5 |
| 2025 | 18.4 | 24.4 | 3.5 | 6.9 |
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, 2022–2025, against the rest of Tennessee.
Crime in Bristol 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 4 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 | Bristol | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.0 | 9.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.2 | 9.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.6 | 8.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.5 | 6.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Bristol’s police reported 317 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.2 in the rest of Tennessee and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
613 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.
97 violent and 516 property, as reported to the FBI by Bristol’s police.
10 people died in crashes on Bristol’s roads in 2019–2023
Bristol had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 10 people died; 2 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 7.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Tennessee towns of 25,000–100,000 people (9.6, 22 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.
Bristol and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | C− | 3.8 | 22.0 |
| Walnut Hill | — | — | — |
| Blountville | — | — | — |
| Bluff City | C | 3.6 | 17.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Walnut Hill and Blountville are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Tennessee towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | C− | 3.8 | 22.0 |
| Maryville | B | 1.6 | 7.1 |
| Oak Ridge | C | 3.1 | 13.3 |
| Shelbyville | C− | 4.6 | 17.9 |
| East Ridge | C− | 4.6 | 18.6 |
| Morristown | D | 6.5 | 25.2 |
The five graded Tennessee towns closest to Bristol’s population (28,107), 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 Bristol. 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 Bristol’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (28,041 in 2025); our figure for Bristol is 28,107 (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 Bristol
Is Bristol, TN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bristol reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #89 of 129 in Tennessee. Its police reported 3.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.2 in the rest of Tennessee and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bristol?
3.8 violent and 22.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Tennessee reports 8.2 and 30.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Bristol in 2025?
Bristol’s police reported 2 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 7.1 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Bristol safer than Bluff City?
Bluff City reports less crime per resident than Bristol: Bluff City grades C for safety and Bristol C−. Bluff City’s police reported 3.6 violent and 17.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Bristol?
Bristol’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bristol”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bristol.
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.