Lincolnton, NC is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a C PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 2% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Lincolnton, NC shows violent crime at 360.6 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,123.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 2% above 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
360.6/100K violent
2123.7/100K property
+2% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Lincolnton, NC
Comparable rate records
Lincolnton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the North Carolina cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Lincolnton's 360.6 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Morehead City (361.4), Louisburg (359.3), New Bern (362.5), Star (364.1). 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 495.6 per 100,000 in 2020 to 360.6 in 2024 (-27.2%). The highest observed value was 495.6 in 2020 and the lowest 360.6 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Position in the state cohort
Lincolnton sits mid-pack among comparable North Carolina cities
At 360.6 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Lincolnton ranks 77 of 206 — above 129 of the 205 other North Carolina cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +36.9% against the cohort median of 263.5. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 89.1% of reported property offenses in Lincolnton, against a cohort median of 74.5%. The remainder is burglary (20) and motor vehicle theft (9). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 14.5% of the 310 Part I offenses reported in Lincolnton for 2024, against a median of 11.4% across comparable North Carolina cities — a gap of 3.1 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.
Property counts dominate Lincolnton'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.
Lincolnton's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 9 Census sq mi, Lincolnton logged 29.6 property and 5 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Lincolnton's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (76% of 310 offenses; mix index 5,951).
Violent offenses are only 15% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (9 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
-32%
3121.1 → 2123.7/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-2.4%
369.6 → 360.6/100K
Property offenses lead Lincolnton's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
265
2123.7
1711
Larceny-Theft
236
1891.3
-
Burglary
20
160.3
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
9
72.1
-
Arson
1
8
-
Violent Crime
45
360.6
352
Aggravated Assault
30
240.4
-
Robbery
8
64.1
-
Rape
7
56.1
-
Murder
0
0
-
Lincolnton Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Lincolnton 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
Lincolnton Police Department
Reporting agency for Lincolnton NIBRS-participating
Lincolnton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Lincolnton's 310 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 Lincolnton in population. Their populations run from 11,330 to 13,479, against 12,478 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Lincolnton at 360.6/100K violent and 2,123.7/100K property - matched below outside North Carolina (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Lincolnton reported 45 violent crimes and 265 property crimes, for a total of 310 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Lincolnton?
From 2023 to 2024, Lincolnton's violent crime rate decreased by 2.4%, and the property crime rate decreased by 32%.
What is the most common crime in Lincolnton?
The most common crime type in Lincolnton is larceny-theft, accounting for 76.1% of all reported crimes (236 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Lincolnton 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 Lincolnton, NC rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.