Potton-Hayden House · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Big Spring sees more crime per resident than nine in ten U.S. towns
Violence and property crime split as 7.8 violent crimes and 24.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 4.3 and 23.6 in the rest of Texas. From 2023 to 2025, crimes Big Spring’s police reported put it at D for safety: #449 of 471 graded towns in Texas. It has more violent crime than 96% of U.S. towns, and more property crime than 85%.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of TX” is every other Texas 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 Big Spring
A college town
Big Spring is home to Howard College, with 2,962 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% 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 ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Big Spring’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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Big Spring | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 7.4 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.6 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 8.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Big Spring’s police reported 532 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 7.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Big Spring 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 9 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Big Spring property | Rest of Texas property | Big Spring violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 21.5 | 27.3 | 6.8 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 22.0 | 26.3 | 7.4 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 27.9 | 23.9 | 7.6 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 24.2 | 20.6 | 8.6 | 3.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Texas.
713 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.
186 violent and 527 property, as reported to the FBI by Big Spring’s police.
23 people died in crashes on Big Spring’s roads in 2019–2023
Big Spring had 21 fatal crashes in five years, in which 23 people died; 4 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 8 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 19.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Texas towns of 5,000–25,000 people (7.3, 297 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.
Big Spring and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring | D | 7.8 | 24.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring | D | 7.8 | 24.6 |
| Watauga | B | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| Stephenville | B− | 1.8 | 9.9 |
| Dickinson | B− | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Manor | B− | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| Angleton | B− | 2.6 | 10.2 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to Big Spring’s population (22,290), 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 Big Spring. 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 Big Spring’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,734 in 2025); our figure for Big Spring is 22,290 (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 Big Spring
Is Big Spring, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Big Spring reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #449 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 7.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Big Spring?
7.8 violent and 24.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Texas reports 4.3 and 23.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Big Spring?
Big Spring’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Big Spring”. 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 Big Spring.
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.