East Hall · Photo: Harper1040 · CC BY-SA 4.0The nearest town with a Safety Grade to Institute is Dunbar, 2 miles away
Institute has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Kanawha County. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Institute alone, and no Safety Grade. Drive 10 miles in any direction and you reach 5 towns with grades of their own.
What stands out about safety in Institute
Policed by the county
Institute is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Institute. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest West Virginia towns with their own police figures are Dunbar (C−, 2 mi), St. Albans (C, 3 mi), Nitro (D, 3 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Institute. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Kanawha County without police of their own, which include Institute.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest West Virginia towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunbar | C− | 2 mi | 3.8 | 18.4 |
| St. Albans | C | 3 mi | 2.2 | 22.6 |
| Nitro | D | 3 mi | 1.8 | 42.5 |
| South Charleston | D− | 4 mi | 5.0 | 51.8 |
| Charleston | D | 8 mi | 5.7 | 34.6 |
| Barboursville | C | 29 mi | 0.9 | 28.0 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Institute. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Institute.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Institute’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for West Virginia towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (6.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Institute’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Institute’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.
Institute and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitro | D | 1.8 | 42.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Institute
Is Institute, WV safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Institute. The nearest West Virginia towns with a grade are Dunbar (C−, 2 mi), St. Albans (C, 3 mi), Nitro (D, 3 mi).
Who polices Institute?
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office. Institute is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Kanawha County without police of their own.
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 Institute.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.