Varner-Hogg Plantation · Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0In West Columbia, the kinds of crime the grade counts fell 55% per resident from 2023 to 2025
Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.0 violent crimes and 14.6 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 4.3 and 23.6 in the rest of Texas. Still, that puts it at C+ for safety, judged on crimes West Columbia’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #240 of 471 graded towns in 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 West Columbia
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 West Columbia’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.0) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (14.6) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | West Columbia property | Rest of Texas property | West Columbia violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.9 | 27.3 | 3.3 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 19.8 | 26.3 | 2.5 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 14.7 | 23.9 | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 9.3 | 20.6 | 0.8 | 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 | West Columbia | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Columbia’s police reported 22 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.0 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 West Columbia 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.
37 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.
3 violent and 34 property, as reported to the FBI by West Columbia’s police.
One person died in crashes on West Columbia’s roads in 2019–2023
West Columbia had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.
That is about what is typical for Texas towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of West Columbia’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Columbia’s own rate (5.5) 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.
West Columbia and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Columbia | C+ | 2.0 | 14.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Columbia | C+ | 2.0 | 14.6 |
| Winnsboro | A− | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| Sweeny | B− | 2.0 | 9.9 |
| Teague | C+ | 2.9 | 10.6 |
| Lytle | C | 0.5 | 26.3 |
| Cockrell Hill | C | 2.6 | 19.8 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to West Columbia’s population (3,636), 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 West Columbia. 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 West Columbia’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,653 in 2025); our figure for West Columbia is 3,636 (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 West Columbia
Is West Columbia, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Columbia reports more crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #240 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 2.0 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 West Columbia?
2.0 violent and 14.6 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 West Columbia?
West Columbia’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Columbia”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in West Columbia.
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.