Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainUniversity Park has less violent crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns
The graded rate rose 29% from 2023 to 2025. Overall, it grades B for safety (#132 of 471 graded towns in Texas). Add to that, recorded violent crime ran at 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 13.5, against 4.3 and 23.6 in the rest of Texas.
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 University Park
University Park reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 1 Texas towns on University Park’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Highland Park (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Texas towns, higher
Texas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so University Park’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 72% of the 471 Texas towns we grade, against 58% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
University Park is home to Southern Methodist University, with 10,993 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 19% 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 ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 University Park’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds University Park’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (13.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | University Park | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.4 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.3 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
University Park’s police reported 35 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | University Park property | Rest of Texas property | University Park violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.2 | 27.3 | 0.4 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 11.5 | 26.3 | 0.3 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 14.3 | 23.9 | 0.6 | 4.5 |
| 2025 | 14.8 | 20.6 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Texas.
Crime in University Park 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
385 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.
11 violent and 374 property, as reported to the FBI by University Park’s police.
No one died in a crash on University Park’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than is typical for Texas towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (6.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of University Park’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so University Park’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
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.
University Park and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Park | B | 0.5 | 13.5 |
| Highland Park | C | 0.7 | 24.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Park | B | 0.5 | 13.5 |
| Corinth | A− | 0.7 | 7.2 |
| Horizon City | B+ | 0.9 | 6.9 |
| Kerrville | B | 1.8 | 6.7 |
| Corsicana | C− | 4.7 | 22.4 |
| Paris | D | 5.5 | 24.2 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to University Park’s population (25,323), 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 University Park. 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 University Park’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (25,262 in 2025); our figure for University Park is 25,323 (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 University Park
Is University Park, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, University Park reports less crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #132 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 0.5 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 University Park?
0.5 violent and 13.5 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.
How many homicides were there in University Park in 2025?
University Park’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is University Park safer than Highland Park?
Highland Park reports more crime per resident than University Park: Highland Park grades C for safety and University Park B. Highland Park’s police reported 0.7 violent and 24.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices University Park?
University Park’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “University Park”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in University Park.
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.