Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Yakima has more violent crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
A Safety Grade of C− follows from crimes Yakima’s police reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #95 of 130 graded towns in Washington. By contrast, the crimes the grade counts fell 18% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 5.2 violent crimes and 21.1 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 4.0 and 32.2 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 Yakima
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Washington towns on Yakima’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Selah (B), Union Gap (D−). Ahtanum, Terrace Heights and Summitview are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among Washington towns, closer to the middle
Washington’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Yakima’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 27% of the 130 Washington towns we grade, against 15% 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 Yakima’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Yakima property | Rest of Washington property | Yakima violent | Rest of Washington violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 31.4 | 43.9 | 6.1 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | 24.2 | 37.8 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| 2024 | 20.4 | 33.1 | 5.4 | 4.1 |
| 2025 | 18.7 | 25.9 | 5.2 | 3.5 |
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.
Crime in Yakima 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 5 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Yakima | Rest of Washington | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.1 | 4.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Yakima’s police reported 1,507 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 5.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of Washington and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
2,326 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.
508 violent and 1,818 property, as reported to the FBI by Yakima’s police.
39 people died in crashes on Yakima’s roads in 2019–2023
Yakima had 33 fatal crashes in five years, in which 39 people died; 6 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists. 5 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 8.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Washington towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.0, 43 towns).
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.
Yakima and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakima | C− | 5.2 | 21.1 |
| Ahtanum | — | — | — |
| Union Gap | D− | 1.7 | 71.4 |
| Terrace Heights | — | — | — |
| Summitview | — | — | — |
| Selah | B | 1.1 | 10.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Ahtanum, Terrace Heights and Summitview are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Washington towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakima | C− | 5.2 | 21.1 |
| Kirkland | B− | 0.8 | 17.5 |
| Renton | D | 3.4 | 33.9 |
| Kennewick | D | 3.7 | 32.5 |
| Bellingham | D | 3.1 | 37.2 |
| Federal Way | D | 5.1 | 41.3 |
The five graded Washington towns closest to Yakima’s population (97,458), 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 Yakima. 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 Yakima’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (97,467 in 2025); our figure for Yakima is 97,458 (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 Yakima
Is Yakima, WA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Yakima reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #95 of 130 in Washington. Its police reported 5.2 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 Yakima?
5.2 violent and 21.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Washington reports 4.0 and 32.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Yakima in 2025?
Yakima’s police reported 9 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 9.2 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Yakima safer than Union Gap?
Union Gap reports more crime per resident than Yakima: Union Gap grades D− for safety and Yakima C−. Union Gap’s police reported 1.7 violent and 71.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Yakima?
Yakima’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Yakima”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Yakima.
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.