Athens, TN carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 77% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Athens, TN shows violent crime at 622.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 3,665.8 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 77% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
622.1/100K violent
3665.8/100K property
+77% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Athens, TN
Comparable rate records
Athens's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Tennessee cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Athens's 622.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are McMinnville (638.3), Millington (602.5), Crossville (646.3), Manchester (653.2). These are same-year agency submissions that pass the same completeness screen, not a claim that the cities have identical conditions. They make the cohort position above checkable against named records instead of a generic state average.
Position in the state cohort
Athens reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Tennessee cities
At 622.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Athens ranks 26 of 176 — above 150 of the 175 other Tennessee cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +108.5% against the cohort median of 298.4. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 931.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 622.1 in 2024 (-33.2%). The highest observed value was 931.8 in 2020 and the lowest 406.6 in 2023. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 14.5% of the 641 Part I offenses reported in Athens for 2024, against a median of 18.9% across comparable Tennessee cities — a gap of 4.4 points. Offense mix is shaped by which agencies report and how incidents are classified as well as by the underlying offenses, so it describes the reported record rather than a settled difference in conditions.
Property counts dominate Athens's FBI UCR Table 8 municipal row. Per-100,000 rates use the reporting-year population on that row; cities that fail the completeness test stay out of rate rankings. A citywide figure rarely describes any single neighbourhood inside the municipal boundary.
Mid-size municipal totals above are reported offenses, not safety advice for any single block. Reporting completeness still varies by year and agency.
Athens's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 15.6 Census sq mi, Athens logged 35.2 property and 6 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Athens's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (68% of 641 offenses; mix index 4,979).
Violent offenses are only 15% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (15.6 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+53%
406.6 → 622.1/100K
Property Crime Rate
-4.5%
3839 → 3665.8/100K
Property offenses lead Athens's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs TN
Property Crime
548
3665.8
1711
2057.9
Larceny-Theft
438
2930
-
-
Burglary
65
434.8
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
45
301
-
-
Arson
2
13.4
-
-
Violent Crime
93
622.1
352
601.6
Aggravated Assault
80
535.2
-
-
Robbery
7
46.8
-
-
Rape
5
33.4
-
-
Murder
1
6.7
-
-
Athens Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Athens property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Athens Police Department
Reporting agency for Athens NIBRS-participating
Athens Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Athens's 641 reported offenses (5-year span 2020-2024).
This agency reports via NIBRS, the incident-based system that captures more detail per offense (multiple crimes per incident, victim/offender data) than the older summary counts.
Similar-Size Cities in Tennessee
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Tennessee cities closest to Athens in population. Their populations run from 13,703 to 16,177, against 14,949 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Athens reported 93 violent crimes and 548 property crimes, for a total of 641 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Athens?
From 2023 to 2024, Athens's violent crime rate increased by 53%, and the property crime rate decreased by 4.5%.
What is the most common crime in Athens?
The most common crime type in Athens is larceny-theft, accounting for 68.3% of all reported crimes (438 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Athens figures are FBI UCR CIUS Table 8 (vintage 2024), population-adjusted per 100,000.
Denominators are the reporting-year population on the municipal row. Incomplete years are dropped from rankings. Confirm at FBI Crime Data Explorer and Census.gov QuickFacts.
Disclaimer (mid-size municipal): figures are informational, not advice. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is the source. Consult a professional before decisions.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Athens, TN rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.