Butler, MO carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 286% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Butler, MO shows violent crime at 1,359 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,858.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 286% 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
1359/100K violent
2858.5/100K property
+286% vs U.S.
The verdict
Butler earns an F safety grade: violent crime runs 286% above the U.S. average, placing it among the highest-crime cities in the country.
F
PlainCrime safety grade
+286%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
1st
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
2,858.5
property crimes per 100K
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Butler, MO
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 628.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1359.0 in 2024 (+116.1%). The highest observed value was 1384.6 in 2022 and the lowest 628.8 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Butler reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Missouri cities
At 1359.0 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Butler ranks 8 of 272 — above 264 of the 271 other Missouri cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +637.2% 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.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 32.2% of the 180 Part I offenses reported in Butler for 2024, against a median of 13.4% across comparable Missouri cities — a gap of 18.8 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.
Comparable rate records
Butler's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Missouri cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Butler's 1359.0 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are St. Louis (1367.1), Caruthersville (1228.3), Springfield (1178.1), Kansas City (1547.1). 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.
Property counts dominate Butler'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.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+18.1%
1150.5 → 1359/100K
Property Crime Rate
-11.8%
3240.2 → 2858.5/100K
Property offenses lead Butler's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
122
2858.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
95
2225.9
-
Burglary
19
445.2
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
8
187.4
-
Arson
3
70.3
-
Violent Crime
58
1359
352
Aggravated Assault
55
1288.7
-
Rape
3
70.3
-
Murder
0
0
-
Robbery
0
0
-
Butler Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Butler property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
2,858.5/100K↓11.8%vs 2023
Butler violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · rose · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
1,359/100K↑18.1%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
3,976
628.8
2967.8
143
2021
Comparable
3,981
929.4
2712.9
145
2022
Comparable
4,189
1384.6
2721.4
172
2023
Comparable
4,259
1150.5
3240.2
187
2024
Comparable
4,268
1359
2858.5
180
How Butler sits among MO peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Butler Police Department NIBRS-participating
Butler's crime figures on this page originate from Butler Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
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 Butler in population. Their populations run from 4,063 to 4,460, against 4,268 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Missouri cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Butler's 1,359/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Butler has a violent crime rate of 1359 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 2858.5 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Butler, MO safe? ▼
Butler receives a safety grade of F (High Risk), with a safety score of 5/100. The violent crime rate is 286% above the national average and 193% above the Missouri average.
What is the population of Butler, MO? ▼
The reporting population for Butler is 4,268 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Butler? ▼
In 2024, Butler reported 58 violent crimes and 122 property crimes, for a total of 180 reported offenses.
How do Butler's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Butler recorded about one reported offense per 24 residents and one reported violent offense per 74 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Butler? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Butler's violent crime rate increased by 18.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 11.8%.
What is the most common crime in Butler? ▼
The most common crime type in Butler is larceny-theft, accounting for 52.8% of all reported crimes (95 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Butler is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Butler, MO rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.