Photo: Smarty9108 · CC BY-SA 4.0Watauga records less violent crime per head than 60% of U.S. towns
Violence and property crime split as 1.3 violent crimes and 10.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, beside 4.3 and 23.6 in the rest of Texas. What’s more, of the 4 towns on its borders with figures, one records less crime per resident. Overall, it grades B for safety (#137 of 471 graded towns in Texas). The rate the grade counts dropped 30% from 2023 to 2025.
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 Watauga
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Texas towns on Watauga’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Keller (A−), North Richland Hills (C), Haltom City (C−), Fort Worth (D). Neighbors ↓
Among Texas towns, higher
Texas’ cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Watauga’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 71% of the 471 Texas towns we grade, against 57% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Watauga’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Watauga property | Rest of Texas property | Watauga violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.4 | 27.3 | 1.7 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 13.7 | 26.3 | 1.6 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 8.5 | 23.9 | 1.1 | 4.5 |
| 2025 | 9.6 | 20.6 | 1.1 | 3.8 |
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 Texas.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Watauga | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Watauga’s police reported 88 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.3 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 Watauga 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
246 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.
25 violent and 221 property, as reported to the FBI by Watauga’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Watauga’s roads in 2019–2023
Watauga had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died.
That is about what is typical for Texas towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (7.3 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Watauga’s size would see about 8 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Watauga’s own rate (4.3) 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.
Watauga and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watauga | B | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| Keller | A− | 0.7 | 6.6 |
| North Richland Hills | C | 1.9 | 20.9 |
| Fort Worth | D | 4.4 | 25.1 |
| Haltom City | C− | 3.2 | 21.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watauga | B | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| Boerne | B | 1.0 | 11.3 |
| Dickinson | B− | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Manor | B− | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| Terrell | C | 3.1 | 17.1 |
| Big Spring | D | 7.8 | 24.6 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to Watauga’s population (22,981), 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 Watauga. 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 Watauga’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (23,003 in 2025); our figure for Watauga is 22,981 (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 Watauga
Is Watauga, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Watauga reports less crime per resident than 57% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #137 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 1.3 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 Watauga?
1.3 violent and 10.6 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.
Is Watauga safer than Keller?
Keller reports less crime per resident than Watauga: Keller grades A− for safety and Watauga B. Keller’s police reported 0.7 violent and 6.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Watauga?
Watauga’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Watauga”. 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 Watauga.
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.