Hamilton, MT carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 6% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Hamilton, MT shows violent crime at 329.5 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,361.3 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 6% 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
329.5/100K violent
2361.3/100K property
-6% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Hamilton, MT
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
Hamilton reported 18 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 5,463. 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
Hamilton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Montana cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Hamilton's 329.5 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Thompson Falls (329.2), Belgrade (341.3), Miles City (307.2), Kalispell (292.9). 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.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 12.2% of the 147 Part I offenses reported in Hamilton for 2024, against a median of 19.5% across comparable Montana cities — a gap of 7.2 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-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 93.8% of reported property offenses in Hamilton, against a cohort median of 84.2%. The remainder is burglary (6) and motor vehicle theft (2). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Hamilton sits mid-pack among comparable Montana cities
At 329.5 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Hamilton ranks 24 of 44 — above 20 of the 43 other Montana cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -21.7% against the cohort median of 420.8. 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 342.1 per 100,000 in 2020 to 329.5 in 2024 (-3.7%). The highest observed value was 611.0 in 2023 and the lowest 311.3 in 2021. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Hamilton'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 18 reported violent incidents in a population of 5,463. 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.
Hamilton's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 2.5 Census sq mi, Hamilton logged 50.7 property and 7.1 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Hamilton's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (82% of 147 offenses; mix index 6,915).
Violent offenses are only 12% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (2.5 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
-46.1%
611 → 329.5/100K
Property Crime Rate
-8.9%
2592.1 → 2361.3/100K
Property offenses lead Hamilton's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MT
vs US avg
Property Crime
129
2361.3
1645.6
1711
Larceny-Theft
121
2214.9
-
-
Burglary
6
109.8
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
2
36.6
-
-
Arson
2
36.6
-
-
Violent Crime
18
329.5
426.4
352
Aggravated Assault
16
292.9
-
-
Rape
1
18.3
-
-
Robbery
1
18.3
-
-
Murder
0
0
-
-
Hamilton Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Hamilton 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
Hamilton Police Department
Reporting agency for Hamilton NIBRS-participating
Hamilton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Hamilton's 147 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 Montana
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Montana cities closest to Hamilton in population. Their populations run from 3,677 to 7,185, against 5,463 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Hamilton reported 18 violent crimes and 129 property crimes, for a total of 147 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Hamilton?
From 2023 to 2024, Hamilton's violent crime rate decreased by 46.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 8.9%.
What is the most common crime in Hamilton?
The most common crime type in Hamilton is larceny-theft, accounting for 82.3% of all reported crimes (121 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Hamilton 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 Hamilton, MT rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.