Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Memphis reports more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
On crimes reported to the FBI by Memphis’ police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #324 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 Memphis
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 Tennessee towns on Memphis’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Germantown (B−), Bartlett (C+). Lakeland has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Memphis’ police reported 189 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 43.0 per 100,000 residents a year, 6.9 times the rest of Tennessee (6.2) and 7.6 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 6.7 times the rest of Tennessee
348 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (1,473 reported in 2025), 6.7 times the rest of Tennessee (51.9) and 4.4 times 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, Memphis reports less crime per resident than 0% (#324). Places like it ↓
A job center
Memphis has 379,595 jobs based in town for 609,647 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 Memphis’ 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 | Memphis property | Rest of Tennessee property | Memphis violent | Rest of Tennessee violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 71.7 | 26.4 | 24.2 | 6.2 |
| 2023 | 86.0 | 26.3 | 26.1 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 69.0 | 23.9 | 25.0 | 5.6 |
| 2025 | 49.7 | 20.0 | 18.5 | 4.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Homicides and robberies
Memphis’ police reported 189 homicides, 1,473 robberies and 11,219 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 | Memphis | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 43.0 | 7.4 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 57.0 | 7.2 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 40.6 | 6.7 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 31.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Memphis | Rest of Tennessee | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 372 | 65.8 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 451 | 60.8 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 349 | 54.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 243 | 40.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 50 property crimes reported
And about 19 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.
41,352 crimes reported in 2025
11,219 violent and 30,133 property, as reported to the FBI by Memphis’ police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
295 of the 1,063 people who died in crashes on Memphis’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Memphis had 973 fatal crashes in five years, in which 1,063 people died. 11 of those killed were cyclists. 126 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 34.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Tennessee towns of 100,000+ people (18.2, 6 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Memphis has the 39th lowest rate.
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.
Memphis and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | D− | 23.2 | 68.3 |
| Germantown | B− | 1.3 | 12.5 |
| Bartlett | C+ | 2.5 | 14.2 |
| Lakeland | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Lakeland has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
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 Memphis. 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 Memphis’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (606,629 in 2025); our figure for Memphis is 609,647 (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 Memphis
Is Memphis, TN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Memphis reports more crime per resident than 100% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade. Its police reported 23.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.5 in the rest of Tennessee and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Memphis?
23.2 violent and 68.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Tennessee reports 5.5 and 23.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Memphis?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Memphis in 2025?
Memphis’s police reported 189 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 31.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Memphis safer than Germantown?
Germantown reports less crime per resident than Memphis: Germantown grades B− for safety and Memphis D−. Germantown’s police reported 1.3 violent and 12.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Memphis?
Memphis’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Memphis”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Memphis.
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.