Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Lake Forest Park records less violence than most U.S. towns, but more property crime
Per 1,000 residents a year, 0.8 violent crime and 17.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 4.0 and 32.1 in the rest of Washington. Add to that, the rate the grade counts dropped 32% from 2023 to 2025. The overall Safety Grade is B− (#43 of 130 graded towns in Washington), which means close to the middle of U.S. towns, judged on crimes its police reported 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 Lake Forest Park
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Washington towns on Lake Forest Park’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Kenmore (B+), Shoreline (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Washington towns, closer to the middle
Washington’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lake Forest Park’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 67% of the 130 Washington towns we grade, against 45% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
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 Lake Forest Park’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Lake Forest Park’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (17.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Lake Forest Park property | Rest of Washington property | Lake Forest Park violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.1 | 43.7 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 21.0 | 37.6 | 1.3 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 16.9 | 32.9 | 0.6 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 14.8 | 25.8 | 0.4 | 3.6 |
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 | Lake Forest Park | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.3 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Lake Forest Park’s police reported 30 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.8 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 Lake Forest Park 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
200 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.
5 violent and 195 property, as reported to the FBI by Lake Forest Park’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Lake Forest Park’s roads in 2019–2023
Lake Forest Park had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 Lake Forest Park’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lake Forest Park’s own rate (4.5) 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.
Lake Forest Park and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest Park | B− | 0.8 | 17.5 |
| Shoreline | C | 1.6 | 22.2 |
| Kenmore | B+ | 0.6 | 9.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest Park | B− | 0.8 | 17.5 |
| Sedro-Woolley | A− | 0.4 | 7.7 |
| Enumclaw | B− | 0.7 | 15.7 |
| Newcastle | C+ | 0.8 | 21.4 |
| Edgewood | C | 2.1 | 19.2 |
| Kelso | C | 2.1 | 22.9 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Lake Forest Park’s population (13,191), 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 Lake Forest Park. 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 Lake Forest Park’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (13,196 in 2025); our figure for Lake Forest Park is 13,191 (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 Lake Forest Park
Is Lake Forest Park, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lake Forest Park reports more crime per resident than 55% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #43 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 0.8 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 Lake Forest Park?
0.8 violent and 17.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 4.0 and 32.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Lake Forest Park safer than Shoreline?
Shoreline reports more crime per resident than Lake Forest Park: Shoreline grades C for safety and Lake Forest Park B−. Shoreline’s police reported 1.6 violent and 22.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lake Forest Park?
Lake Forest Park’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lake Forest Park”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Lake Forest Park.
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.