Photo: Jeffery Hayes · CC BY-SA 3.0Seattle reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Seattle’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #126 of 130 graded towns in Washington, and #298 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000.
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 Seattle
4 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Washington towns on Seattle’s borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Bainbridge Island (B+), Medina (B+), Mercer Island (B), Kirkland (B−), Tukwila (D−). Boulevard Park, White Center and Bryn Mawr-Skyway are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Seattle’s police reported 35 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 6.7 per 100,000 residents a year, 1.7 times the rest of Washington (3.9) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.8 times the rest of Washington
207 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (1,416 reported in 2025), 2.8 times the rest of Washington (73.3) and 2.6 times all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Seattle reports less crime per resident than 8% (#298). Places like it ↓
A job center
Seattle has 613,163 jobs based in town for 784,777 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 Seattle’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.
Homicides and robberies
Seattle’s police reported 35 homicides, 1,416 robberies and 5,530 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Washington and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Seattle | Rest of Washington | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.4 | 5.6 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 9.0 | 4.8 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 6.8 | 4.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Seattle | Rest of Washington | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 240 | 99.5 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 222 | 94.8 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 221 | 72.8 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 179 | 52.5 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 44 property crimes reported
And about 7 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.
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 | Seattle property | Rest of Washington property | Seattle violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 57.2 | 41.3 | 8.4 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | 50.1 | 35.3 | 7.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 50.1 | 29.8 | 7.8 | 3.5 |
| 2025 | 44.2 | 22.4 | 7.0 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
40,511 crimes reported in 2025
5,530 violent and 34,981 property, as reported to the FBI by Seattle’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
82 of the 174 people who died in crashes on Seattle’s roads in 2019–2023 were pedestrians
Seattle had 169 fatal crashes in five years, in which 174 people died. 10 of those killed were cyclists. 25 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Washington towns of 100,000+ people (7.0, 9 towns).
Among the 39 U.S. cities of 500,000 or more, Seattle has the 4th lowest rate.
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.
Seattle and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | D− | 7.5 | 48.1 |
| Bainbridge Island | B+ | 0.4 | 8.4 |
| Mercer Island | B | 0.6 | 11.2 |
| Tukwila | D− | 7.7 | 143.0 |
| Kirkland | B− | 0.8 | 17.5 |
| Boulevard Park | — | — | — |
| White Center | — | — | — |
| Bryn Mawr-Skyway | — | — | — |
| Medina | B+ | 0.1 | 10.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Boulevard Park, White Center and Bryn Mawr-Skyway are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
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 Seattle. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Seattle’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (791,503 in 2025); our figure for Seattle is 784,777 (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 Seattle
Is Seattle, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Seattle reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #126 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 7.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.4 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Seattle?
7.5 violent and 48.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 3.4 and 29.1; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Seattle?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Seattle in 2025?
Seattle’s police reported 35 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 4.4 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Seattle safer than Bainbridge Island?
Bainbridge Island reports less crime per resident than Seattle: Bainbridge Island grades B+ for safety and Seattle D−. Bainbridge Island’s police reported 0.4 violent and 8.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Seattle?
Seattle’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Seattle”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Seattle.
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.