Princeton, TX has a B safety grade (65/100) with a violent crime rate of 274 per 100,000, 22% below the national average.

FBI UCR 2024 · per-capita rates · mid-size city

Princeton, TX Crime Rate & Safety

Princeton (26,650 people) sits in the mid-size municipal band. This page opens with per-100,000 FBI UCR rates, then TX and national benchmarks.

Data updated 2026-09-05

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B
Safety grade
844.3
Property / 100K
273.9
Violent / 100K
27K
Population

Princeton, TX is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 22% below the U.S. average

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Princeton, TX shows violent crime at 273.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 844.3 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 22% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade B from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.

  • B safety grade
  • 273.9/100K violent
  • 844.3/100K property
  • -22% vs U.S.

What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Princeton, TX

2020–2024 direction

The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher

Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 153.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 273.9 in 2024 (+79.0%). The highest observed value was 273.9 in 2024 and the lowest 153.0 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.

Comparable rate records

Princeton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Texas cohort

The nearest comparable 2024 records to Princeton's 273.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Yoakum (273.6), Seguin (272.7), Haltom City (275.2), Irving (275.4). 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

Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix

Violent offenses are 24.5% of the 298 Part I offenses reported in Princeton for 2024, against a median of 14.3% across comparable Texas cities — a gap of 10.2 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.

Position in the state cohort

Princeton sits mid-pack among comparable Texas cities

At 273.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Princeton ranks 217 of 686 — above 469 of the 685 other Texas cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +53.1% against the cohort median of 178.9. 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 Princeton'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.

Princeton's 2024 municipal footprint

Across 14.1 Census sq mi, Princeton logged 15.9 property and 5.2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.

Princeton leans on larceny-theft at 49% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,260.

Violent offenses are 24% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.

Princeton offense mix (2024)

Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (14.1 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.

Property rate moved most (2023→2024)

Property Crime Rate
+41.6%
596.1 → 844.3/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+23.6%
221.6 → 273.9/100K

Property offenses lead Princeton's 2024 record

Offense Count Rate /100K
Property Crime 225 844.3
Larceny-Theft 145 544.1
Burglary 66 247.7
Motor Vehicle Theft 14 52.5
Arson 0 0
Violent Crime 73 273.9
Aggravated Assault 57 213.9
Rape 10 37.5
Robbery 5 18.8
Murder 1 3.8

Princeton Crime Trend (2020-2024)

Princeton property crime rate trend

Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR

Property crime rate (2024)
844.3/100K 41.6% vs 2023
4006008001,0001,200 20202021202220232024 844

Princeton violent crime rate trend

Secondary series · rose · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR

Violent crime rate (2024)
273.9/100K 23.6% vs 2023
100150200250300 20202021202220232024 274
Year Coverage Population Violent Rate Property Rate
2020 Comparable 15,031 153 1144.3
2021 Comparable 17,059 187.6 627.2
2022 Comparable 22,867 153.1 817.8
2023 Comparable 26,171 221.6 596.1
2024 Comparable 26,650 273.9 844.3

How Princeton sits among TX peers

POP-MIDCOHORT-SIZEVIOL-LOWPROP-LOWQUAD-LLGRADE-BNIBRSUCR-2024
Princeton vs. similar-size TX cities, violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 9 cities; the anchor is ringed. Princeton vs. similar-size TX cities, violent vs. property crime 35 506 Violent crime per 100K → 328 3,040 Property crime per 100K → Princeton SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME PROPERTY-HEAVY VIOLENT-HEAVY Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Read the chart as a list
  • Princeton: 274 violent, 844 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Balch Springs: 418 violent, 2815 property per 100,000 (grade D)
  • Denison: 174 violent, 816 property per 100,000 (grade A)
  • Fate: 59 violent, 483 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
  • Fulshear: 58 violent, 365 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
  • Belton: 93 violent, 1943 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Corsicana: 468 violent, 2259 property per 100,000 (grade D)
  • Lake Jackson: 261 violent, 1740 property per 100,000 (grade C)
  • Colleyville: 39 violent, 538 property per 100,000 (grade A+)

Princeton Police Department

Reporting agency for Princeton NIBRS-participating

Princeton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Princeton's 298 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 Texas

Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Texas cities closest to Princeton in population. Their populations run from 25,630 to 27,644, against 26,650 here. Or use our side-by-side compare tool to benchmark two cities directly.

Princeton's closest TX violent-rate matches

Princeton sits at 273.9/100K violent (grade B); the Texas cities below are the nearest matches after size peers are removed.

Out-of-state peers for Princeton

Princeton at 273.9/100K violent and 844.3/100K property - matched below outside Texas (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).

More about Princeton's 2024 record

How many crimes were reported in Princeton?

In 2024, Princeton reported 73 violent crimes and 225 property crimes, for a total of 298 reported offenses.

Is crime increasing or decreasing in Princeton?

From 2023 to 2024, Princeton's violent crime rate increased by 23.6%, and the property crime rate increased by 41.6%.

What is the most common crime in Princeton?

The most common crime type in Princeton is larceny-theft, accounting for 48.7% of all reported crimes (145 incidents in 2024).

Mid-size read: Princeton 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.

Federal sources for this mid-size row
Cite, share, or save this city record

Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 Princeton, TX rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.

Bulk download: city crime dataset (CSV/JSON)

Put this to use

Put the Princeton, TX FBI UCR record to work: compare peers, open the state atlas, or look up another city.

A citywide UCR rate is a starting point, not a neighbourhood verdict: read the full profile and the year coverage notes before drawing conclusions.

Every figure on PlainCrime is rendered directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. Princeton is scored in the mid-size municipal band (26,650 on the row). See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.