Photo: Hmil6 · CC BY-SA 4.0Columbia has more violent crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 34% from 2023 to 2025. Year on year, 5.0 violent crimes and 20.7 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 8.2 and 30.2 in the rest of Tennessee. By contrast, a Safety Grade of C− follows from crimes Columbia’s police reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #95 of 129 graded towns in Tennessee.
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 Columbia
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 Tennessee towns on Columbia’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Spring Hill (B+). Neighbors ↓
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 Columbia’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 per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Columbia property | Rest of Tennessee property | Columbia violent | Rest of Tennessee violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 21.0 | 33.7 | 6.8 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | 22.7 | 35.5 | 5.6 | 9.1 |
| 2024 | 24.9 | 30.7 | 5.7 | 8.5 |
| 2025 | 14.8 | 24.5 | 3.7 | 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 Columbia 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 | Columbia | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.8 | 9.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.6 | 9.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.7 | 8.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.7 | 6.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Columbia’s police reported 739 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 8.2 in the rest of Tennessee and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
940 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.
189 violent and 751 property, as reported to the FBI by Columbia’s police.
25 people died in crashes on Columbia’s roads in 2019–2023
Columbia had 24 fatal crashes in five years, in which 25 people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is 11.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Columbia and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C− | 5.0 | 20.7 |
| Spring Hill | B+ | 1.5 | 5.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Tennessee towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | C− | 5.0 | 20.7 |
| Brentwood | B+ | 0.7 | 7.6 |
| Gallatin | B | 1.9 | 7.2 |
| Collierville | B− | 1.5 | 12.1 |
| Lebanon | C+ | 3.3 | 10.8 |
| Cleveland | D | 4.8 | 23.1 |
The five graded Tennessee towns closest to Columbia’s population (50,072), 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 Columbia. 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 Columbia’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (50,684 in 2025); our figure for Columbia is 50,072 (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 Columbia
Is Columbia, TN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Columbia reports more crime per resident than 84% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #95 of 129 in Tennessee. Its police reported 5.0 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 Columbia?
5.0 violent and 20.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Tennessee reports 8.2 and 30.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Columbia in 2025?
Columbia’s police reported 3 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 5.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Columbia safer than Spring Hill?
Spring Hill reports less crime per resident than Columbia: Spring Hill grades B+ for safety and Columbia C−. Spring Hill’s police reported 1.5 violent and 5.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Columbia?
Columbia’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Columbia”. 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 Columbia.
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.