Photo: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0Violent crime per resident is lower in Mercer Island than in 82% of U.S. towns
Overall, Mercer Island grades B for safety (#18 of 130 graded towns in Washington): less crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Police counts work out at 0.6 violent crime and 11.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents annually; in the rest of Washington they are 4.1 and 32.1. One of the 4 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Mercer Island
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Washington towns on Mercer Island’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Medina (B+), Bellevue (C−), Renton (D), Seattle (D−). Neighbors ↓
Among Washington towns, higher
Washington’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Mercer Island’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 86% of the 130 Washington towns we grade, against 64% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Mercer Island’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Mercer Island’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (11.2) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Mercer Island | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.7 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Mercer Island’s police reported 43 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.1 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Mercer Island 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Mercer Island property | Rest of Washington property | Mercer Island violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.9 | 43.8 | 1.0 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 11.6 | 37.7 | 0.7 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 12.4 | 33.0 | 0.4 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 9.5 | 25.9 | 0.7 | 3.6 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Washington.
257 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.
17 violent and 240 property, as reported to the FBI by Mercer Island’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Mercer Island’s roads in 2019–2023
Mercer Island had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died. Most of these deaths (4 of 4) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is about what is typical for Washington towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (5.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Mercer Island’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Mercer Island’s own rate (3.2) 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.
Mercer Island and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Island | B | 0.6 | 11.2 |
| Seattle | D− | 7.5 | 48.1 |
| Bellevue | C− | 1.3 | 29.8 |
| Renton | D | 3.4 | 33.9 |
| Medina | B+ | 0.1 | 10.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Island | B | 0.6 | 11.2 |
| Bainbridge Island | B+ | 0.4 | 8.4 |
| Kenmore | B+ | 0.6 | 9.0 |
| Oak Harbor | B | 1.0 | 9.3 |
| Mountlake Terrace | C | 1.7 | 22.0 |
| Moses Lake | D | 4.1 | 36.8 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Mercer Island’s population (25,422), 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 Mercer Island. 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 Mercer Island’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (25,192 in 2025); our figure for Mercer Island is 25,422 (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 Mercer Island
Is Mercer Island, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Mercer Island reports less crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #18 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 0.6 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 Mercer Island?
0.6 violent and 11.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 4.1 and 32.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Mercer Island in 2025?
Mercer Island’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Mercer Island safer than Seattle?
Seattle reports more crime per resident than Mercer Island: Seattle grades D− for safety and Mercer Island B. Seattle’s police reported 7.5 violent and 48.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Mercer Island?
Mercer Island’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Mercer Island”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Mercer Island.
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.