Fife reports more crime per resident than almost every U.S. town
On crimes reported to the FBI by Fife’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #128 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 Fife
3 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 Washington towns on Fife’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Edgewood (C), Milton (C−), Puyallup (D), Tacoma (D−). Fife Heights and Waller are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Fife has 18,657 jobs based in town for 11,061 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 Fife’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.
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 | Fife property | Rest of Washington property | Fife violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 121.5 | 43.5 | 15.6 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | 98.8 | 37.4 | 15.3 | 4.4 |
| 2024 | 59.2 | 32.8 | 10.2 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 36.8 | 25.8 | 9.7 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Fife’s police reported 379 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 11.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Fife | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15.6 | 4.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 15.3 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 10.2 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 9.7 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 37 property crimes reported
And about 10 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.
515 crimes reported in 2025
107 violent and 408 property, as reported to the FBI by Fife’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Seven people died in crashes on Fife’s roads in 2019–2023
Fife had 7 fatal crashes in five years, in which seven people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 2 died in crashes 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 Fife’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Fife’s own rate (12.8) 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.
Fife and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fife Heights and Waller are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fife | D− | 11.7 | 64.6 |
| Port Townsend | C+ | 2.9 | 13.5 |
| Snohomish | C+ | 1.7 | 18.6 |
| Shelton | D | 5.5 | 24.4 |
| Sumner | D | 3.3 | 34.3 |
| Burlington | D | 1.6 | 58.7 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Fife’s population (11,061), 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 Fife. 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 Fife’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (11,082 in 2025); our figure for Fife is 11,061 (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 Fife
Is Fife, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fife reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #128 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 11.7 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 Fife?
11.7 violent and 64.6 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 crime going up or down in Fife?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Fife safer than Tacoma?
Tacoma reports more crime per resident than Fife: Tacoma grades D− for safety and Fife D−. Tacoma’s police reported 10.5 violent and 56.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Fife?
Fife’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fife”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Fife.
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.