Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Williston reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Williston’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #31 of 38 graded towns in Vermont.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of VT” is every other Vermont 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 Williston
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Vermont towns on Williston’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Essex (B−), South Burlington (D). Jericho and Essex Junction have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Richmond reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Williston has 10,793 jobs based in town for 9,975 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 Williston’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Williston’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
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 Vermont.
Show as a table
| Year | Williston property | Rest of Vermont property | Williston violent | Rest of Vermont violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 32.7 | 26.4 | 0.6 | 3.0 |
| 2023 | 56.0 | 27.0 | 1.8 | 2.7 |
| 2024 | 45.6 | 23.3 | 1.1 | 2.8 |
| 2025 | 31.4 | 21.9 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Williston’s police reported 42 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.7 in the rest of Vermont and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Williston | Rest of Vermont | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 31 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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.
329 crimes reported in 2025
13 violent and 316 property, as reported to the FBI by Williston’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
No one died in a crash on Williston’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for Vermont towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Williston’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Williston’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Williston and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williston | D | 1.4 | 44.3 |
| South Burlington | D | 2.4 | 48.1 |
| Essex | B− | 1.3 | 15.4 |
| Jericho | — | — | — |
| Essex Junction | — | — | — |
| Richmond | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Jericho and Essex Junction have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Richmond reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2024 but not 2025.
Vermont towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williston | D | 1.4 | 44.3 |
| Milton | B | 1.7 | 8.0 |
| Middlebury | B | 1.3 | 11.4 |
| Springfield | B− | 2.2 | 11.7 |
| Hartford | C+ | 2.6 | 12.6 |
| Brattleboro | D | 6.0 | 39.3 |
The five graded Vermont towns closest to Williston’s population (9,975), 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 Williston. 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 Williston’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,075 in 2025); our figure for Williston is 9,975 (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 Williston
Is Williston, VT safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Williston reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #31 of 38 in Vermont. Its police reported 1.4 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 2.7 in the rest of Vermont and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Williston?
1.4 violent and 44.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Vermont reports 2.7 and 24.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Williston?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Williston safer than South Burlington?
South Burlington reports more crime per resident than Williston: South Burlington grades D for safety and Williston D. South Burlington’s police reported 2.4 violent and 48.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Williston?
Williston’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Williston”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Williston.
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.