Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bellingham reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Bellingham’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #109 of 130 graded towns in Washington.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WA” is every other Washington 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 Bellingham
A college town
Bellingham is home to Western Washington University, with 14,432 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 17% 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 Bellingham’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 (3.1) 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 Washington.
Show as a table
| Year | Bellingham property | Rest of Washington property | Bellingham violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 65.1 | 43.2 | 4.1 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 41.6 | 37.5 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 37.6 | 32.8 | 3.5 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 32.5 | 25.7 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 33 property crimes reported
And about 3 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
Bellingham’s police reported 895 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.1 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Bellingham | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
3,405 crimes reported in 2025
252 violent and 3,153 property, as reported to the FBI by Bellingham’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
26 people died in crashes on Bellingham’s roads in 2019–2023
Bellingham had 23 fatal crashes in five years, in which 26 people died; 9 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 8 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 5.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Washington towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.0, 43 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.
Bellingham and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingham | D | 3.1 | 37.2 |
| Marietta-Alderwood | — | — | — |
| Geneva | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Marietta-Alderwood and Geneva are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingham | D | 3.1 | 37.2 |
| Kirkland | B− | 0.8 | 17.5 |
| Yakima | C− | 5.2 | 21.1 |
| Renton | D | 3.4 | 33.9 |
| Kennewick | D | 3.7 | 32.5 |
| Federal Way | D | 5.1 | 41.3 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Bellingham’s population (96,395), 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 Bellingham. 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 Bellingham’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (96,902 in 2025); our figure for Bellingham is 96,395 (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 Bellingham
Is Bellingham, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bellingham reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #109 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 3.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.1 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bellingham?
3.1 violent and 37.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 4.1 and 31.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Bellingham?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Bellingham in 2025?
Bellingham’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 Bellingham?
Bellingham’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bellingham”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bellingham.
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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.