Photo: Mojo Hand · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime reported in Salem, VA
Salem’s police reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025.
For every 1,000 residents, about 12 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.
The years Salem’s police reported
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents, against the rest of Virginia. A year the department didn’t report in full is a gap, not a zero.
Show as a table
| Year | Salem | Rest of Virginia | Salem | Rest of Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.3 | 25.3 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 18.6 | 24.5 | 0.9 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | not reported | 23.3 | not reported | 3.3 |
| 2025 | 11.8 | 20.3 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
349 crimes reported in 2025
40 violent and 309 property, as reported to the FBI by Salem’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
The nearest Virginia towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke | D | 5 mi | 5.8 | 38.2 |
| Vinton | C | 9 mi | 2.0 | 19.1 |
| Blacksburg | A− | 21 mi | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Rocky Mount | D | 22 mi | 1.1 | 42.0 |
| Christiansburg | C | 22 mi | 1.8 | 23.1 |
| Bedford | C+ | 30 mi | 2.1 | 16.7 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Salem. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Salem.
Five people died in crashes on Salem’s roads in 2019–2023
Salem had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for Virginia towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (3.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Salem’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Salem’s own rate (3.9) 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.
Salem and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke | D | 5.8 | 38.2 |
| Cave Spring | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Cave Spring is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
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 Salem. 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 Salem’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (26,107 in 2025); our figure for Salem is 25,816 (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 Salem
Is Salem, VA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Salem. Salem’s police reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024, so there is no Safety Grade: the grade needs all three years, 2023–2025. The nearest Virginia towns with a grade are Roanoke (D, 5 mi), Vinton (C, 9 mi), Blacksburg (A−, 21 mi).
Who polices Salem?
Salem’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Salem”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Salem.
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.