Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Burlington reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns
It has less violent crime than 51% of U.S. towns, but less property crime than only 1%. The yearly rates were 1.6 violent crimes and 58.7 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 4.0 and 32.0 in the rest of Washington. By contrast, from 2023 to 2025, crimes Burlington’s police reported put it at D for safety: #122 of 130 graded towns in Washington. The crimes the grade counts fell 42% per resident from 2023 to 2025.
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 Burlington
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 1 Washington towns on Burlington’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Mount Vernon (C+). Neighbors ↓
A job center
Burlington has 8,374 jobs based in town for 11,356 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 Burlington’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Burlington’s grade up; property crime pulls it down.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Burlington property | Rest of Washington property | Burlington violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 114.5 | 43.5 | 3.3 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 73.6 | 37.5 | 3.1 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 60.7 | 32.8 | 0.7 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 43.7 | 25.8 | 1.1 | 3.5 |
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 Washington.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Burlington | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.1 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.7 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Burlington’s police reported 52 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Burlington 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
512 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.
13 violent and 499 property, as reported to the FBI by Burlington’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Burlington’s roads in 2019–2023
Burlington had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died; 2 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is more than is typical for Washington towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Burlington’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Burlington’s own rate (10.0) 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.
Burlington and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | D | 1.6 | 58.7 |
| Mount Vernon | C+ | 1.7 | 17.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | D | 1.6 | 58.7 |
| Snohomish | C+ | 1.7 | 18.6 |
| Shelton | D | 5.5 | 24.4 |
| Sumner | D | 3.3 | 34.3 |
| Airway Heights | D | 3.9 | 38.2 |
| Fife | D− | 11.7 | 64.6 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Burlington’s population (11,356), 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 Burlington. 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 Burlington’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,420 in 2025); our figure for Burlington is 11,356 (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 Burlington
Is Burlington, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Burlington reports more crime per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #122 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 1.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Burlington?
1.6 violent and 58.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 4.0 and 32.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Burlington safer than Mount Vernon?
Mount Vernon reports less crime per resident than Burlington: Mount Vernon grades C+ for safety and Burlington D. Mount Vernon’s police reported 1.7 violent and 17.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Burlington?
Burlington’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Burlington”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Burlington.
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.