Photo: Djmaschek · CC BY-SA 4.0Wharton reports more crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Wharton’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #358 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 Wharton
A college town
Wharton is home to Wharton County Junior College, with 4,826 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 7% 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 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 Wharton’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. Its violent rate (3.5) 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.
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 | Wharton property | Rest of Texas property | Wharton violent | Rest of Texas violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 31.1 | 27.3 | 3.0 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 22.3 | 26.3 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 18.8 | 23.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| 2025 | 17.2 | 20.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 17 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Wharton’s police reported 92 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.3 in the rest of Texas and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Wharton | Rest of Texas | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
170 crimes reported in 2025
19 violent and 151 property, as reported to the FBI by Wharton’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
16 people died in crashes on Wharton’s roads in 2019–2023
Wharton had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died.
That is 36.7 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.
Wharton and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton | C− | 3.5 | 19.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Texas towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton | C− | 3.5 | 19.4 |
| Wolfforth | B+ | 1.8 | 4.3 |
| Graham | B | 1.4 | 8.5 |
| Highland Park | C | 0.7 | 24.1 |
| Brownfield | C | 3.8 | 12.4 |
| Aransas Pass | C | 3.1 | 18.2 |
The five graded Texas towns closest to Wharton’s population (8,776), by grade.
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 Wharton. 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 Wharton’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,782 in 2025); our figure for Wharton is 8,776 (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 Wharton
Is Wharton, TX safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wharton reports more crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #358 of 471 in Texas. Its police reported 3.5 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 Wharton?
3.5 violent and 19.4 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 crime going up or down in Wharton?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Wharton?
Wharton’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wharton”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Wharton.
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.