Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Port Townsend sees more violent crime per resident than seven in ten U.S. towns
Overall, Port Townsend grades C+ for safety (#54 of 130 graded towns in Washington): more crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 2.9 violent crimes and 13.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 4.0 and 32.1 in the rest of 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 Port Townsend
Among Washington towns, closer to the middle
Washington’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Port Townsend’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 58% of the 130 Washington towns we grade, against 36% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Port Townsend’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.9) 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. Its property rate (13.5) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Port Townsend | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Port Townsend’s police reported 92 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.9 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 Port Townsend 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 2 violent crimes, 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 | Port Townsend property | Rest of Washington property | Port Townsend violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.9 | 43.7 | 1.8 | 4.8 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 37.6 | 1.8 | 4.5 |
| 2024 | 14.1 | 32.9 | 4.7 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 12.2 | 25.8 | 2.1 | 3.5 |
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.
154 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.
23 violent and 131 property, as reported to the FBI by Port Townsend’s police.
No one died in a crash on Port Townsend’s roads in 2019–2023
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 Port Townsend’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Port Townsend’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Port Townsend and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Townsend | C+ | 2.9 | 13.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Fife | D− | 11.7 | 64.6 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Port Townsend’s population (10,678), 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 Port Townsend. 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 Port Townsend’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (10,772 in 2025); our figure for Port Townsend is 10,678 (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 Port Townsend
Is Port Townsend, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Port Townsend reports more crime per resident than 64% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #54 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 2.9 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 Port Townsend?
2.9 violent and 13.5 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.
Who polices Port Townsend?
Port Townsend’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Port Townsend”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Port Townsend.
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.