About PlainCrime
Our Mission
We believe that understanding public safety conditions should not require navigating FBI data portals, downloading Excel spreadsheets, or interpreting statistical methodologies. PlainCrime exists because the FBI publishes the most comprehensive crime dataset in the country through its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, but that data is difficult for most people to access, compare, and understand. We built PlainCrime to change that.
Our philosophy is to present FBI crime statistics as reported, without editorializing or sensationalizing. Crime data is sensitive — it affects where people choose to live, how communities are perceived, and how policy decisions are made. We believe the responsible approach is to provide the numbers with proper context, always noting the FBI's own cautions about using this data for direct comparisons between jurisdictions.
Why we built this: families researching where to move, journalists covering public safety, researchers studying crime trends, and residents curious about their own community all deserve easy access to the same data that law enforcement agencies report to the federal government. PlainCrime provides that access — free, searchable, and covering nearly 9,000 cities, over 3,000 counties, and all 50 states.
Our Data Sources
All crime data on PlainCrime comes directly from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, the nation's most comprehensive and authoritative collection of crime statistics. Our specific data sources are:
- FBI Crime in the United States (CIUS) — Table 8 — Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City. This dataset provides city-level crime counts for all seven Part I offense categories (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) along with arson, reported population figures, and agency information. Downloaded from the FBI Crime Data Explorer at cde.ucr.cjis.gov.
- FBI Crime in the United States (CIUS) — Table 10 — Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties. This provides county-level crime counts using the same offense categories as Table 8. Downloaded from the same FBI Crime Data Explorer.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API — State-level crime trends from 2014 through 2024, retrieved via the CDE programmatic API. This data supplements the tabular datasets with longitudinal trend data and agency-level metadata for law enforcement agencies across all states.
How We Process the Data
Our methodology converts raw FBI datasets into the city, county, and state profiles you see on PlainCrime. The pipeline involves several stages:
Data acquisition: We download Table 8 and Table 10 ZIP archives from the FBI Crime Data Explorer, which contain Excel (XLSX) files with city-level and county-level crime statistics. State-level trend data and agency metadata are retrieved via the CDE API endpoints. All data is downloaded in its original format.
Parsing and normalization: Excel files are parsed row by row, extracting offense counts for each jurisdiction. City and county names are normalized for consistent display and matching. FBI-reported population figures are preserved exactly as published for rate calculations. State FIPS codes are mapped to standardized state names and abbreviations.
Rate computation: Crime rates are expressed per 100,000 population using the standard formula: (Number of Offenses / Population) × 100,000. This allows meaningful comparison between cities of vastly different sizes. We compute rates for total violent crime, total property crime, and each individual offense category. Only jurisdictions with FBI-reported population figures receive per-capita rates.
Aggregation and indexing: City-level data is aggregated to produce county and state summaries. State-level trend data from the CDE API is integrated to show multi-year crime trajectories. All records are indexed for fast search by city name, county, and state. Cache tables are built for summary pages to ensure sub-second load times across the entire site.
Data Currency
Crime data has an inherent publication lag. Here is how the FBI's release schedule affects what you see on PlainCrime:
- CIUS Tables (8 and 10): The FBI publishes these annually, typically 9 to 12 months after the reporting year ends. Our current dataset reflects the most recent available CIUS publication year.
- CDE API state trends: State-level trend data covers 2014 through 2024. The FBI updates the CDE API data as new CIUS releases become available.
- Our update schedule: We refresh PlainCrime's database when the FBI publishes new annual data. Between annual updates, the data remains static and reflects the last publication year.
Crime statistics always describe the past, not current conditions. A city's crime rate in the most recent data year may not reflect changes in policing, population, or community conditions that have occurred since. For real-time public safety information, contact your local law enforcement agency.
Editorial Independence & How Content Is Produced
PlainCrime content is compiled by our editorial team from official source data. Raw FBI UCR and NIBRS data is transformed into readable city and state crime profiles through our continuous editorial pipeline, then validated against the source before publication. The PlainCrime editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.
We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from law enforcement agencies, cities, states, or any covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which jurisdictions we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.
Limitations and Disclaimers
The FBI itself warns against using crime statistics for simplistic comparisons. We share that caution. Key limitations include:
- Incomplete reporting: Not all law enforcement agencies report complete data every year. Some agencies may not participate in the UCR program at all. Cities with missing or incomplete submissions may show lower counts than actual offense totals.
- Reporting methodology differences: Jurisdictions may differ in how they classify and report offenses. The transition from the legacy Summary Reporting System (SRS) to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) has introduced inconsistencies in some years as agencies switched systems.
- Unreported crime: UCR data reflects offenses known to law enforcement, not all crimes that occur. Victimization surveys consistently show that many crimes — particularly property crimes and sexual assaults — go unreported to police.
- County data limitations: Table 10 county data does not include population figures for all counties, which means per-capita rates cannot be calculated for every jurisdiction. County boundaries may also differ from how residents perceive their local area.
- Context matters: Many factors influence crime rates beyond what the numbers show — economic conditions, population density, demographic composition, policing strategies, geography, and seasonal patterns. Rankings and comparisons without this context can be misleading.
Important: PlainCrime is not affiliated with the FBI, the Department of Justice, or any government agency. We provide this data for informational purposes only. Crime statistics should not be the sole factor in any decision-making process, including housing, relocation, or investment decisions. Always consider the full picture and consult local sources for current public safety information.
Contact
We welcome questions about our data, methodology, or the crime statistics presented on PlainCrime. If you believe a city or county record contains an error, have feedback on how we present the data, or want to understand how a specific statistic was derived, please get in touch. We are also happy to hear from journalists, researchers, and civic organizations who use crime data in their work.
Email us at hello@plaincrime.com.