Kernersville, NC is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a C PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 35% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Kernersville, NC shows violent crime at 227.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 3,148.4 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 35% 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
227.9/100K violent
3148.4/100K property
-35% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Kernersville, NC
Comparable rate records
Kernersville's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the North Carolina cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Kernersville's 227.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Cleveland (225.2), Maysville (235.8), Maxton (236.3), Kill Devil Hills (217.5). 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 326.2 per 100,000 in 2020 to 227.9 in 2024 (-30.1%). The highest observed value was 331.0 in 2021 and the lowest 227.9 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 6.7% of the 963 Part I offenses reported in Kernersville for 2024, against a median of 11.6% across comparable North Carolina cities — a gap of 4.8 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.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 83.5% of reported property offenses in Kernersville, against a cohort median of 74.5%. The remainder is burglary (99) and motor vehicle theft (49). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Position in the state cohort
Kernersville sits mid-pack among comparable North Carolina cities
At 227.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Kernersville ranks 118 of 206 — above 88 of the 205 other North Carolina cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -20.1% against the cohort median of 285.1. 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 Kernersville'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.
Kernersville's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 19.1 Census sq mi, Kernersville logged 46.9 property and 3.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Kernersville's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (78% of 963 offenses; mix index 6,229).
Violent offenses are only 7% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (19.1 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
-28.1%
316.8 → 227.9/100K
Property Crime Rate
-15.6%
3730.9 → 3148.4/100K
Property offenses lead Kernersville's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs NC
Property Crime
898
3148.4
1711
1929.5
Larceny-Theft
750
2629.5
-
-
Burglary
99
347.1
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
49
171.8
-
-
Arson
5
17.5
-
-
Violent Crime
65
227.9
352
364.6
Aggravated Assault
54
189.3
-
-
Robbery
7
24.5
-
-
Murder
2
7
-
-
Rape
2
7
-
-
Kernersville Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Kernersville 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
Kernersville Police Department
Reporting agency for Kernersville NIBRS-participating
Kernersville Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Kernersville's 963 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 North Carolina
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the North Carolina cities closest to Kernersville in population. Their populations run from 23,893 to 33,162, against 28,522 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Kernersville at 227.9/100K violent and 3,148.4/100K property - matched below outside North Carolina (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Kernersville reported 65 violent crimes and 898 property crimes, for a total of 963 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Kernersville?
From 2023 to 2024, Kernersville's violent crime rate decreased by 28.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 15.6%.
What is the most common crime in Kernersville?
The most common crime type in Kernersville is larceny-theft, accounting for 77.9% of all reported crimes (750 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Kernersville 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 Kernersville, NC rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.