Belton, MO carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 5% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Belton, MO shows violent crime at 333.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,872.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 5% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade C from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
C safety grade
333.9/100K violent
1872.7/100K property
-5% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Belton, MO
Comparable rate records
Belton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Missouri cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Belton's 333.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Jefferson City (333.6), St. James (333.5), Excelsior Springs (329.5), Florissant (341.3). 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
Belton sits mid-pack among comparable Missouri cities
At 333.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Belton ranks 80 of 272 — above 192 of the 271 other Missouri cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +81.1% against the cohort median of 184.3. 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 higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 265.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 333.9 in 2024 (+25.6%). The highest observed value was 405.8 in 2022 and the lowest 265.8 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Belton'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.
Belton's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 14.4 Census sq mi, Belton logged 33.9 property and 6 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Belton's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (72% of 575 offenses; mix index 5,409).
Violent offenses are 15% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (14.4 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Property rate moved most (2023→2024)
Property Crime Rate
-25.1%
2501.1 → 1872.7/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+7.8%
309.8 → 333.9/100K
Property offenses lead Belton's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
488
1872.7
1711
Larceny-Theft
415
1592.6
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
50
191.9
-
Burglary
23
88.3
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
87
333.9
352
Aggravated Assault
55
211.1
-
Rape
20
76.8
-
Robbery
12
46.1
-
Murder
0
0
-
Belton Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Belton 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
Belton Police Department
Reporting agency for Belton NIBRS-participating
Belton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Belton's 575 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 Missouri
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Missouri cities closest to Belton in population. Their populations run from 23,432 to 28,817, against 26,058 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Belton reported 87 violent crimes and 488 property crimes, for a total of 575 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Belton?
From 2023 to 2024, Belton's violent crime rate increased by 7.8%, and the property crime rate decreased by 25.1%.
What is the most common crime in Belton?
The most common crime type in Belton is larceny-theft, accounting for 72.2% of all reported crimes (415 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Belton 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 Belton, MO rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.