Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Crime per resident in Knoxville runs higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Per resident, the graded crimes were down 23% from 2023 to 2025. Still, it grades D for safety on crimes Knoxville’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #116 of 129 graded towns in Tennessee, and #246 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Year on year, 7.5 violent crimes and 27.3 incidents of property crime occur per 1,000 residents, compared with 8.2 and 30.2 in the rest of Tennessee. Violent crime here is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 88%.
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 Knoxville
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Tennessee towns on Knoxville’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Alcoa (C). Powell, John Sevier and Halls are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Farragut has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Knoxville’s police reported 16 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 10.3 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Tennessee (11.8) and 1.8 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Tennessee
75.1 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (112 reported in 2025), below the rest of Tennessee (97.2) and about the same as 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, Knoxville reports less crime per resident than 24% (#246). Places like it ↓
A college town
Knoxville is home to The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, with 33,547 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 14% 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
Knoxville has 181,996 jobs based in town for 202,021 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 Knoxville’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 | Knoxville property | Rest of Tennessee property | Knoxville violent | Rest of Tennessee violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 39.1 | 33.3 | 8.4 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | 31.3 | 35.6 | 8.2 | 9.1 |
| 2024 | 27.2 | 30.8 | 7.4 | 8.6 |
| 2025 | 23.6 | 24.4 | 6.8 | 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.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Knoxville | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.4 | 12.8 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 12.1 | 14.9 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 11.0 | 11.8 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Knoxville | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 91.9 | 115 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 87.8 | 122 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 81.8 | 99.6 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 55.8 | 70.6 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Knoxville’s police reported 16 homicides, 112 robberies and 1,374 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.
Crime in Knoxville 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 7 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
6,100 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.
1,374 violent and 4,726 property, as reported to the FBI by Knoxville’s police.
185 people died in crashes on Knoxville’s roads in 2019–2023
Knoxville had 178 fatal crashes in five years, in which 185 people died; 38 were pedestrians and 3 were cyclists. 63 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 19.0 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.
Knoxville and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Powell, John Sevier and Halls are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Farragut has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Tennessee towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville | D | 7.5 | 27.3 |
| Clarksville | C | 4.1 | 15.4 |
| Murfreesboro | C− | 4.3 | 19.6 |
| Chattanooga | D− | 8.7 | 40.3 |
The five graded Tennessee towns closest to Knoxville’s population (202,021), 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 Knoxville. 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 Knoxville’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (200,645 in 2025); our figure for Knoxville is 202,021 (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 Knoxville
Is Knoxville, TN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Knoxville reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #116 of 129 in Tennessee. Its police reported 7.5 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 Knoxville?
7.5 violent and 27.3 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 Knoxville in 2025?
Knoxville’s police reported 16 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 8.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Knoxville safer than Alcoa?
Alcoa reports less crime per resident than Knoxville: Alcoa grades C for safety and Knoxville D. Alcoa’s police reported 4.2 violent and 13.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Knoxville?
Knoxville’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Knoxville”. 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 Knoxville.
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.