Photo: Katie Haugland Brown · CC BY 2.0Houston reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Houston’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #465 of 471 graded towns in Texas, and #306 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Houston
2 of the 2 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Texas towns on Houston’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Pearland (B−), Pasadena (D). Channelview, Spring, Atascocita, Mission Bend, Fresno and Cinco Ranch are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Houston’s police reported 272 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 13.3 per 100,000 residents a year, 2.6 times the rest of Texas (5.1) and 2.3 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 4.8 times the rest of Texas
256 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (4,848 reported in 2025), 4.8 times the rest of Texas (53.2) and 3.2 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, Houston reports less crime per resident than 6% (#306). Places like it ↓
A job center
Houston has 1,789,039 jobs based in town for 2,397,315 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 Houston’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.
Homicides and robberies
Houston’s police reported 272 homicides, 4,848 robberies and 21,386 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Texas and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Houston | Rest of Texas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.0 | 6.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 14.9 | 6.0 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 13.8 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 11.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Houston | Rest of Texas | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 306 | 62.5 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 296 | 58.8 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 274 | 54.9 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 201 | 46.2 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
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 Texas.
Show as a table
| Year | Houston property | Rest of Texas property | Houston violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 45.8 | 25.0 | 11.4 | 4.3 |
| 2023 | 45.1 | 24.0 | 10.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 42.9 | 21.6 | 11.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 38.1 | 18.4 | 8.9 | 3.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 38 property crimes reported
And about 9 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.
113,274 crimes reported in 2025
21,386 violent and 91,888 property, as reported to the FBI by Houston’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
573 of the 1,825 people who died in crashes on Houston’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Houston had 1,728 fatal crashes in five years, in which 1,825 people died. 78 of those killed were cyclists. 374 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 15.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Texas towns of 100,000+ people (8.4, 43 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Houston has the 30th 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.
Houston and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | D− | 10.4 | 42.0 |
| Channelview | — | — | — |
| Spring | — | — | — |
| Atascocita | — | — | — |
| Mission Bend | — | — | — |
| Fresno | — | — | — |
| Cinco Ranch | — | — | — |
| Pearland | B− | 0.9 | 14.1 |
| Pasadena | D | 5.4 | 22.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Channelview, Spring, Atascocita, Mission Bend, Fresno and Cinco Ranch are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
U.S. cities of a million or more
| City | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | D− | 10.4 | 42.0 |
| New York City | D | 6.7 | 23.5 |
| Los Angeles | D | 7.4 | 21.9 |
| Chicago | D | 5.2 | 32.8 |
| Phoenix | D | 7.6 | 22.8 |
| Philadelphia | D− | 9.0 | 46.4 |
| San Antonio | D− | 6.0 | 46.3 |
| San Diego | C− | 4.0 | 16.7 |
| Dallas | D | 6.3 | 34.7 |
| Fort Worth | D | 4.4 | 25.1 |
| Austin | D | 4.6 | 32.0 |
Every U.S. city of 1,000,000+ with a Safety Grade, largest first; each city’s own police figures, 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 Houston. 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 Houston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,413,559 in 2025); our figure for Houston is 2,397,315 (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 Houston
Is Houston, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Houston reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #465 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 10.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Houston?
10.4 violent and 42.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Texas reports 3.6 and 21.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Houston?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Houston in 2025?
Houston’s police reported 272 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 11.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Houston safer than Pearland?
Pearland reports less crime per resident than Houston: Pearland grades B− for safety and Houston D−. Pearland’s police reported 0.9 violent and 14.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Houston?
Houston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Houston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Houston.
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.