Des Moines, WA carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 16% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Des Moines, WA shows violent crime at 296.6 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,849.1 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 16% 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
296.6/100K violent
2849.1/100K property
-16% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Des Moines, WA
Comparable rate records
Des Moines's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Washington cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Des Moines's 296.6 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are McCleary (293.7), Walla Walla (284.3), Washougal (312.4), Orting (313.8). 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
Des Moines sits mid-pack among comparable Washington cities
At 296.6 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Des Moines ranks 43 of 164 — above 121 of the 163 other Washington cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +61.3% against the cohort median of 183.9. 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 343.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 296.6 in 2024 (-13.5%). The highest observed value was 358.2 in 2021 and the lowest 296.6 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Des Moines'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.
Des Moines's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 6.4 Census sq mi, Des Moines logged 140.8 property and 14.7 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Des Moines's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (61% of 997 offenses; mix index 4,345).
Violent offenses are only 9% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (6.4 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
-19.5%
3539.5 → 2849.1/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-4.6%
310.8 → 296.6/100K
Property offenses lead Des Moines's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
903
2849.1
1711
Larceny-Theft
611
1927.8
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
224
706.8
-
Burglary
68
214.6
-
Arson
5
15.8
-
Violent Crime
94
296.6
352
Aggravated Assault
51
160.9
-
Robbery
33
104.1
-
Rape
9
28.4
-
Murder
1
3.2
-
Des Moines Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Des Moines 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
Des Moines Police Department
Reporting agency for Des Moines NIBRS-participating
Des Moines Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Des Moines's 997 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 Washington
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Washington cities closest to Des Moines in population. Their populations run from 27,617 to 35,523, against 31,694 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Des Moines at 296.6/100K violent and 2,849.1/100K property - matched below outside Washington (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Des Moines reported 94 violent crimes and 903 property crimes, for a total of 997 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Des Moines?
From 2023 to 2024, Des Moines's violent crime rate decreased by 4.6%, and the property crime rate decreased by 19.5%.
What is the most common crime in Des Moines?
The most common crime type in Des Moines is larceny-theft, accounting for 61.3% of all reported crimes (611 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Des Moines 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 Des Moines, WA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.