Elba, AL carries a PlainCrime D safety grade with violent crime 28% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Elba, AL shows violent crime at 451.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 3,044.8 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 28% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade D from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
D safety grade
451.1/100K violent
3044.8/100K property
+28% vs U.S.
The verdict
Elba earns a D safety grade: violent crime runs 28% above the U.S. average, placing it among the highest-crime cities in the country.
D
PlainCrime safety grade
+28%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
17th
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
3,044.8
property crimes per 100K
Based on 16 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,547. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Elba, AL
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Elba reported 16 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 3,547. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Comparable rate records
Elba's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Alabama cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Elba's 451.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Frisco City (450.5), Addison (448.4), Brookwood (454.5), Ranburne (459.8). 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
Elba sits mid-pack among comparable Alabama cities
At 451.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Elba ranks 72 of 263 — above 191 of the 262 other Alabama cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +111.3% against the cohort median of 213.5. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property counts dominate Elba'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.
Based on 16 reported violent incidents in a population of 3,547. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
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
-22.3%
580.7 → 451.1/100K
Property Crime Rate
-6.4%
3252 → 3044.8/100K
Property offenses lead Elba's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs AL
vs US avg
Property Crime
108
3044.8
1622.1
1711
Larceny-Theft
78
2199
-
-
Burglary
20
563.9
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
10
281.9
-
-
Arson
1
28.2
-
-
Violent Crime
16
451.1
376.1
352
Aggravated Assault
10
281.9
-
-
Robbery
3
84.6
-
-
Murder
2
56.4
-
-
Rape
1
28.2
-
-
Elba Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Elba property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
3,044.8/100K↓6.4%vs 2023
Elba violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
451.1/100K↓22.3%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
3,796
0
184.4
7
2021
Comparable
3,916
127.7
740.6
34
2022
Comparable
3,398
382.6
3619.8
136
2023
Comparable
3,444
580.7
3252
132
2024
Comparable
3,547
451.1
3044.8
124
How Elba sits among AL peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Elba Police Department NIBRS-participating
Elba's crime figures on this page originate from Elba 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 Alabama
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Alabama cities closest to Elba in population. Their populations run from 3,327 to 3,887, against 3,547 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These Alabama cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Elba's 451.1/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Elba has a violent crime rate of 451.1 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 3044.8 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Elba, AL safe? ▼
Elba receives a safety grade of D (Below Average), with a safety score of 28/100. The violent crime rate is 28% above the national average and 20% above the Alabama average.
What is the population of Elba, AL? ▼
The reporting population for Elba is 3,547 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Elba? ▼
In 2024, Elba reported 16 violent crimes and 108 property crimes, for a total of 124 reported offenses.
How do Elba's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Elba recorded about one reported offense per 29 residents and one reported violent offense per 222 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Elba? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Elba's violent crime rate decreased by 22.3%, and the property crime rate decreased by 6.4%.
What is the most common crime in Elba? ▼
The most common crime type in Elba is larceny-theft, accounting for 62.9% of all reported crimes (78 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Elba 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.