Natchitoches, LA is among the highest-crime cities in the country, and earns an F PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 153% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Natchitoches, LA shows violent crime at 891.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 4,384.8 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 153% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
891.1/100K violent
4384.8/100K property
+153% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Natchitoches, LA
Comparable rate records
Natchitoches's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Louisiana cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Natchitoches's 891.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Bossier City (913.1), Vinton (863.5), Church Point (803.6), Minden (796.4). 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.
Position in the state cohort
Natchitoches sits mid-pack among comparable Louisiana cities
At 891.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Natchitoches ranks 21 of 66 — above 45 of the 65 other Louisiana cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +110.2% against the cohort median of 423.9. 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 3 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 1105.1 per 100,000 in 2020 to 891.1 in 2024 (-19.4%). The highest observed value was 1105.1 in 2020 and the lowest 93.1 in 2023. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 64.2% of reported property offenses in Natchitoches, against a cohort median of 77.3%. The remainder is burglary (221) and motor vehicle theft (45). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Property counts dominate Natchitoches'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.
Natchitoches's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 23.2 Census sq mi, Natchitoches logged 32.1 property and 6.5 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Natchitoches leans on larceny-theft at 53% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,685.
Violent offenses are 17% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (23.2 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
+1321.3%
308.5 → 4384.8/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+857.1%
93.1 → 891.1/100K
Property offenses lead Natchitoches's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs LA
Property Crime
743
4384.8
1711
1772.7
Larceny-Theft
477
2815
-
-
Burglary
221
1304.2
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
45
265.6
-
-
Arson
4
23.6
-
-
Violent Crime
151
891.1
352
410
Aggravated Assault
126
743.6
-
-
Rape
12
70.8
-
-
Robbery
8
47.2
-
-
Murder
5
29.5
-
-
Natchitoches Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021, 2022 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
Natchitoches property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 3 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Natchitoches Police Department
Reporting agency for Natchitoches NIBRS-participating
Natchitoches Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Natchitoches's 894 reported offenses (3-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 Louisiana
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Louisiana cities closest to Natchitoches in population. Their populations run from 13,985 to 20,142, against 16,945 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Natchitoches reported 151 violent crimes and 743 property crimes, for a total of 894 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Natchitoches?
From 2023 to 2024, Natchitoches's violent crime rate increased by 857.1%, and the property crime rate increased by 1321.3%.
What is the most common crime in Natchitoches?
The most common crime type in Natchitoches is larceny-theft, accounting for 53.4% of all reported crimes (477 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Natchitoches 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 Natchitoches, LA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.