Laurel, MD carries a PlainCrime D safety grade with violent crime 12% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Laurel, MD shows violent crime at 393.7 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 4,861.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 12% 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
393.7/100K violent
4861.5/100K property
+12% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Laurel, MD
Comparable rate records
Laurel's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Maryland cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Laurel's 393.7 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Colmar Manor (388.9), Easton (399.6), Berwyn Heights (401.1), Edmonston (384.4). 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 7.5% of the 1,535 Part I offenses reported in Laurel for 2024, against a median of 14.6% across comparable Maryland cities — a gap of 7.1 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.
Position in the state cohort
Laurel sits mid-pack among comparable Maryland cities
At 393.7 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Laurel ranks 29 of 72 — above 43 of the 71 other Maryland cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +55.7% against the cohort median of 252.9. 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 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 412.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 393.7 in 2024 (-4.5%). The highest observed value was 657.6 in 2023 and the lowest 392.7 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Laurel'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.
Laurel's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 4.8 Census sq mi, Laurel logged 298.4 property and 24.2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Laurel's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (71% of 1,535 offenses; mix index 5,439).
Violent offenses are only 7% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (4.8 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
-40.1%
657.6 → 393.7/100K
Property Crime Rate
+8.9%
4465.6 → 4861.5/100K
Property offenses lead Laurel's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs MD
Property Crime
1,420
4861.5
1711
2074.5
Larceny-Theft
1,096
3752.3
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
266
910.7
-
-
Burglary
58
198.6
-
-
Arson
0
0
-
-
Violent Crime
115
393.7
352
425.1
Aggravated Assault
68
232.8
-
-
Robbery
38
130.1
-
-
Rape
7
24
-
-
Murder
2
6.8
-
-
Laurel Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
Laurel property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Laurel Police Department
Reporting agency for Laurel NIBRS-participating
Laurel Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Laurel's 1,535 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
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 Maryland
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Maryland cities closest to Laurel in population. Their populations run from 17,418 to 40,446, against 29,209 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Laurel reported 115 violent crimes and 1,420 property crimes, for a total of 1,535 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Laurel?
From 2023 to 2024, Laurel's violent crime rate decreased by 40.1%, and the property crime rate increased by 8.9%.
What is the most common crime in Laurel?
The most common crime type in Laurel is larceny-theft, accounting for 71.4% of all reported crimes (1,096 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Laurel 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 Laurel, MD rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.