Sterling, CO is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a D PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 13% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Sterling, CO shows violent crime at 398.3 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,920.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 13% 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
398.3/100K violent
2920.5/100K property
+13% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Sterling, CO
Comparable rate records
Sterling's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Colorado cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Sterling's 398.3 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are South Fork (396.0), Greenwood Village (391.8), Gunnison (391.5), Florence (387.7). 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
Sterling sits mid-pack among comparable Colorado cities
At 398.3 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Sterling ranks 35 of 134 — above 99 of the 133 other Colorado cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +104.3% against the cohort median of 194.9. 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 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 463.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 398.3 in 2024 (-14.1%). The highest observed value was 463.4 in 2020 and the lowest 291.7 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Sterling'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.
Sterling's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 7.6 Census sq mi, Sterling logged 49.1 property and 6.7 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Sterling's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (70% of 425 offenses; mix index 5,159).
Violent offenses are only 12% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (7.6 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
-17.9%
3559.3 → 2920.5/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+1.1%
393.8 → 398.3/100K
Property offenses lead Sterling's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
374
2920.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
296
2311.4
-
Burglary
53
413.9
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
25
195.2
-
Arson
1
7.8
-
Violent Crime
51
398.3
352
Aggravated Assault
46
359.2
-
Rape
4
31.2
-
Robbery
1
7.8
-
Murder
0
0
-
Sterling Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Sterling 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
Sterling Police Department
Reporting agency for Sterling NIBRS-participating
Sterling Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Sterling's 425 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 Colorado
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Colorado cities closest to Sterling in population. Their populations run from 10,607 to 13,992, against 12,806 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Sterling reported 51 violent crimes and 374 property crimes, for a total of 425 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Sterling?
From 2023 to 2024, Sterling's violent crime rate increased by 1.1%, and the property crime rate decreased by 17.9%.
What is the most common crime in Sterling?
The most common crime type in Sterling is larceny-theft, accounting for 69.6% of all reported crimes (296 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Sterling 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 Sterling, CO rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.