Dutch Hollow Wine Cellars · Photo: ForestWander · CC BY-SA 3.0 usMore violent crime is recorded per resident in Dunbar than in 81% of U.S. towns
Its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident. A Safety Grade of C− follows from crimes Dunbar’s police reported over the years 2023 to 2025: #18 of 29 graded towns in West Virginia. The local count comes to 3.8 violent crimes and 18.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 4.0 and 24.6 in the rest of West Virginia.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WV” is every other West Virginia 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 Dunbar
Dunbar reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 2 West Virginia towns on Dunbar’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Charleston (D), South Charleston (D−). Neighbors ↓
Among West Virginia towns, closer to the middle
West Virginia’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Dunbar’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 38% of the 29 West Virginia towns we grade, against 22% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Dunbar’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.
Crime in Dunbar 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 4 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 | Dunbar | Rest of West Virginia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Dunbar’s police reported 81 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Dunbar property | Rest of West Virginia property | Dunbar violent | Rest of West Virginia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 14.3 | 25.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 18.1 | 24.4 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 22.9 | 23.4 | 3.7 | 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of West Virginia.
187 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.
26 violent and 161 property, as reported to the FBI by Dunbar’s police.
Four people died in crashes on Dunbar’s roads in 2019–2023
Dunbar had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for West Virginia towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (10.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Dunbar’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Dunbar’s own rate (11.0) 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.
Dunbar and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunbar | C− | 3.8 | 18.4 |
| South Charleston | D− | 5.0 | 51.8 |
| Charleston | D | 5.7 | 34.6 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
West Virginia towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunbar | C− | 3.8 | 18.4 |
| Charles Town | B+ | 0.9 | 9.1 |
| Oak Hill | B− | 1.6 | 11.9 |
| Moundsville | C | 2.4 | 20.1 |
| Bluefield | C− | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Nitro | D | 1.8 | 42.5 |
The five graded West Virginia towns closest to Dunbar’s population (7,050), 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 Dunbar. 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 Dunbar’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,027 in 2025); our figure for Dunbar is 7,050 (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 Dunbar
Is Dunbar, WV safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Dunbar reports more crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #18 of 29 in West Virginia. Its police reported 3.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Dunbar?
3.8 violent and 18.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of West Virginia reports 4.0 and 24.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Dunbar safer than South Charleston?
South Charleston reports more crime per resident than Dunbar: South Charleston grades D− for safety and Dunbar C−. South Charleston’s police reported 5.0 violent and 51.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Dunbar?
Dunbar’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Dunbar”. 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 Dunbar.
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.