Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Morgantown sees more property crime per resident than 76% of U.S. towns
On the record of crimes Morgantown’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes C for safety: #12 of 29 graded towns in West Virginia. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 25% from 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.6 violent crimes and 19.5 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 4.1 and 24.8 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 Morgantown
Morgantown reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 West Virginia towns on Morgantown’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Westover (C−). Star City reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Brookhaven is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Granville has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among West Virginia towns, closer to the middle
West Virginia’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Morgantown’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 59% of the 29 West Virginia towns we grade, against 28% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Morgantown is home to West Virginia University, with 21,691 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 42% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Morgantown has 31,867 jobs based in town for 30,293 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 Morgantown’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. Its violent rate (2.6) 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 | Morgantown property | Rest of West Virginia property | Morgantown violent | Rest of West Virginia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 24.4 | 28.7 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| 2023 | 22.1 | 25.9 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| 2024 | 19.6 | 24.7 | 2.1 | 4.0 |
| 2025 | 16.8 | 23.9 | 2.4 | 3.7 |
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 West Virginia.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Morgantown | Rest of West Virginia | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.1 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Morgantown’s police reported 242 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.1 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Morgantown 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.
588 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.
73 violent and 515 property, as reported to the FBI by Morgantown’s police.
Nine people died in crashes on Morgantown’s roads in 2019–2023
Morgantown had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which nine people died; 2 were pedestrians.
That is about what is typical for West Virginia towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (9.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Morgantown’s size would see about 15 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Morgantown’s own rate (6.0) 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.
Morgantown and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | C | 2.6 | 19.5 |
| Westover | C− | 1.9 | 25.3 |
| Star City | — | — | — |
| Brookhaven | — | — | — |
| Granville | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Star City reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Brookhaven is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own. Granville has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
West Virginia towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | C | 2.6 | 19.5 |
| Fairmont | C− | 5.1 | 12.7 |
| Parkersburg | C− | 2.7 | 30.3 |
| Wheeling | D | 9.3 | 18.8 |
| Charleston | D | 5.7 | 34.6 |
| Huntington | D | 7.5 | 34.1 |
The five graded West Virginia towns closest to Morgantown’s population (30,293), 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 Morgantown. 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 Morgantown’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (30,600 in 2025); our figure for Morgantown is 30,293 (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 Morgantown
Is Morgantown, WV safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Morgantown reports more crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #12 of 29 in West Virginia. Its police reported 2.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.1 in the rest of West Virginia and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Morgantown?
2.6 violent and 19.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of West Virginia reports 4.1 and 24.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Morgantown in 2025?
Morgantown’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 16.3 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Morgantown safer than Westover?
Westover reports more crime per resident than Morgantown: Westover grades C− for safety and Morgantown C. Westover’s police reported 1.9 violent and 25.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Morgantown?
Morgantown’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Morgantown”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Morgantown.
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.