Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Chattanooga reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Chattanooga’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #123 of 129 graded towns in Tennessee, and #292 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Chattanooga
3 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Tennessee towns on Chattanooga’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Signal Mountain (A), Collegedale (B+), East Ridge (C−). Harrison, Middle Valley and Falling Water are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Lookout Mountain reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Soddy-Daisy reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Chattanooga’s police reported 16 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 12.1 per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the rest of Tennessee (11.7) and 2.1 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: about the same as the rest of Tennessee
91.0 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (141 reported in 2025), about the same as the rest of Tennessee (96.3) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Chattanooga reports less crime per resident than 10% (#292). Places like it ↓
A job center
Chattanooga has 176,670 jobs based in town for 194,144 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 Chattanooga’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.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Chattanooga property | Rest of Tennessee property | Chattanooga violent | Rest of Tennessee violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 52.2 | 32.7 | 11.4 | 9.0 |
| 2023 | 48.6 | 34.7 | 10.9 | 9.0 |
| 2024 | 39.4 | 30.2 | 8.2 | 8.5 |
| 2025 | 33.2 | 23.9 | 7.0 | 6.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Chattanooga’s police reported 16 homicides, 141 robberies and 1,358 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Tennessee and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Chattanooga | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.1 | 13.0 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 15.6 | 14.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 12.7 | 11.7 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Chattanooga | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 119 | 114 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 107 | 121 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 93.7 | 99.0 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 72.7 | 69.7 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 33 property crimes reported
And about 7 violent crimes, 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.
7,796 crimes reported in 2025
1,358 violent and 6,438 property, as reported to the FBI by Chattanooga’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
176 people died in crashes on Chattanooga’s roads in 2019–2023
Chattanooga had 165 fatal crashes in five years, in which 176 people died; 33 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists. 43 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 18.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Tennessee towns of 100,000+ people (18.2, 6 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.
Chattanooga and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | D− | 8.7 | 40.3 |
| Harrison | — | — | — |
| East Ridge | C− | 4.6 | 18.6 |
| Lookout Mountain | — | — | — |
| Middle Valley | — | — | — |
| Collegedale | B+ | 0.8 | 9.5 |
| Soddy-Daisy | — | — | — |
| Falling Water | — | — | — |
| Signal Mountain | A | 0.3 | 3.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Harrison, Middle Valley and Falling Water are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Lookout Mountain reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Soddy-Daisy reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
Tennessee towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | D− | 8.7 | 40.3 |
| Clarksville | C | 4.1 | 15.4 |
| Murfreesboro | C− | 4.3 | 19.6 |
| Knoxville | D | 7.5 | 27.3 |
The five graded Tennessee towns closest to Chattanooga’s population (194,144), 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 Chattanooga. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Chattanooga’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (193,881 in 2025); our figure for Chattanooga is 194,144 (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 Chattanooga
Is Chattanooga, TN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Chattanooga reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #123 of 129 in Tennessee. Its police reported 8.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.1 in the rest of Tennessee and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Chattanooga?
8.7 violent and 40.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Tennessee reports 8.1 and 29.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Chattanooga?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Chattanooga in 2025?
Chattanooga’s police reported 16 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 8.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Chattanooga safer than East Ridge?
East Ridge reports less crime per resident than Chattanooga: East Ridge grades C− for safety and Chattanooga D−. East Ridge’s police reported 4.6 violent and 18.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Chattanooga?
Chattanooga’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Chattanooga”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Chattanooga.
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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.