Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0In Watertown, the kinds of crime the grade counts fell 43% per resident from 2023 to 2025
Overall, it grades B for safety (#99 of 175 graded towns in Wisconsin). On top of that, each year brought 1.9 violent crimes and 8.9 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (3.6 and 15.0 in the rest of Wisconsin).
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WI” is every other Wisconsin 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 Watertown
Among Wisconsin towns, closer to the middle
Wisconsin’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Watertown’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 43% of the 175 Wisconsin towns we grade, against 56% 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 Watertown’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Watertown’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (1.9) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Watertown property | Rest of Wisconsin property | Watertown violent | Rest of Wisconsin violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.5 | 18.2 | 2.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 10.6 | 16.0 | 2.0 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 10.5 | 15.5 | 1.9 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 5.5 | 13.6 | 1.7 | 3.2 |
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 Wisconsin.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Watertown | Rest of Wisconsin | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Watertown’s police reported 126 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Watertown 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.
162 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.
38 violent and 124 property, as reported to the FBI by Watertown’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Watertown’s roads in 2019–2023
Watertown had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Wisconsin towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Watertown’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Watertown’s own rate (3.5) 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.
Watertown and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | B | 1.9 | 8.9 |
| Watertown (township) | — | — | — |
| Emmet | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Watertown (township) and Emmet have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Wisconsin towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | B | 1.9 | 8.9 |
| Mequon | A− | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| Middleton | B | 1.1 | 8.8 |
| Germantown | B | 0.6 | 11.7 |
| Pleasant Prairie | C+ | 3.0 | 10.2 |
| Grand Chute | D | 2.3 | 41.2 |
The five graded Wisconsin towns closest to Watertown’s population (22,704), 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 Watertown. 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 Watertown’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (22,538 in 2025); our figure for Watertown is 22,704 (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 Watertown
Is Watertown, WI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Watertown reports less crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #99 of 175 in Wisconsin. Its police reported 1.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Watertown?
1.9 violent and 8.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Wisconsin reports 3.6 and 15.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Watertown?
Watertown’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Watertown”. 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 Watertown.
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.