Photo: Alma mater · CC BY-SA 3.0Harrisonburg sees more property crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 28% from 2023 to 2025. On crimes Harrisonburg’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C for safety: #41 of 84 graded towns in Virginia. Typical years here bring 2.3 violent crimes plus 16.9 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, against 3.3 plus 22.7 in the rest of Virginia.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of VA” is every other Virginia 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 Harrisonburg
Among Virginia towns, closer to the middle
Virginia’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Harrisonburg’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 51% of the 84 Virginia towns we grade, against 34% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Harrisonburg is home to James Madison University, with 21,645 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 30% 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 ↓
A job center
Harrisonburg has 31,498 jobs based in town for 50,839 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 Harrisonburg’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 (2.3) 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 (16.9) 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 | Harrisonburg property | Rest of Virginia property | Harrisonburg violent | Rest of Virginia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.1 | 25.3 | 2.5 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 20.0 | 24.5 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 16.9 | 23.4 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
| 2025 | 13.9 | 20.3 | 2.1 | 3.2 |
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 Virginia.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Harrisonburg | Rest of Virginia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Harrisonburg’s police reported 359 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Harrisonburg 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
820 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.
108 violent and 712 property, as reported to the FBI by Harrisonburg’s police.
15 people died in crashes on Harrisonburg’s roads in 2019–2023
Harrisonburg had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 15 people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 5.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Virginia towns of 25,000–100,000 people (3.9, 38 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.
Harrisonburg and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisonburg | C | 2.3 | 16.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Virginia towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisonburg | C | 2.3 | 16.9 |
| Blacksburg | A− | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Leesburg | C | 2.5 | 16.0 |
| Manassas | C | 2.8 | 16.8 |
| Danville | D | 3.4 | 28.4 |
| Charlottesville | D | 3.2 | 31.7 |
The five graded Virginia towns closest to Harrisonburg’s population (50,839), 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 Harrisonburg. 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 Harrisonburg’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (51,165 in 2025); our figure for Harrisonburg is 50,839 (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 Harrisonburg
Is Harrisonburg, VA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Harrisonburg reports more crime per resident than 66% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #41 of 84 in Virginia. Its police reported 2.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Harrisonburg?
2.3 violent and 16.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Virginia reports 3.3 and 22.7; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Harrisonburg in 2025?
Harrisonburg’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.
Who polices Harrisonburg?
Harrisonburg’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Harrisonburg”. 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 Harrisonburg.
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.