Universal City, TX has a C safety grade (56/100) with a violent crime rate of 258 per 100,000, 27% below the national average.

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

Universal City, TX Crime Rate & Safety

Universal City (20,121 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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C
Safety grade
2,102.3
Property / 100K
258.4
Violent / 100K
20K
Population

Universal City, TX is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a C PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 27% below the U.S. average

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Universal City, TX shows violent crime at 258.4 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,102.3 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 27% below 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
  • 258.4/100K violent
  • 2102.3/100K property
  • -27% vs U.S.

What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Universal City, TX

Comparable rate records

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

The nearest comparable 2024 records to Universal City's 258.4 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Saginaw (258.5), Rockport (258.9), Newton (257.9), Harlingen (257.7). 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

Universal City sits mid-pack among comparable Texas cities

At 258.4 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Universal City ranks 233 of 686 — above 453 of the 685 other Texas cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +44.4% 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.

2020–2024 direction

The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower

Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 311.9 per 100,000 in 2020 to 258.4 in 2024 (-17.1%). The highest observed value was 316.5 in 2022 and the lowest 258.4 in 2024. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.

Offense mix

The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort

Violent offenses are 10.9% of the 475 Part I offenses reported in Universal City for 2024, against a median of 14.4% across comparable Texas cities — a gap of 3.4 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 Universal City'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.

Universal City's 2024 municipal footprint

Across 5.6 Census sq mi, Universal City logged 75 property and 9.2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.

Universal City's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (67% of 475 offenses; mix index 4,822).

Violent offenses are only 11% of the municipal total - a property-led book.

Universal City offense mix (2024)

Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (5.6 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
-37.4%
3356.2 → 2102.3/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-14.8%
303.3 → 258.4/100K

Property offenses lead Universal City's 2024 record

Offense Count Rate /100K
Property Crime 423 2102.3
Larceny-Theft 320 1590.4
Motor Vehicle Theft 52 258.4
Burglary 51 253.5
Arson 1 5
Violent Crime 52 258.4
Aggravated Assault 29 144.1
Rape 13 64.6
Robbery 9 44.7
Murder 1 5

Universal City Crime Trend (2020-2024)

Universal City property crime rate trend

Lead series · fell across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR

Property crime rate (2024)
2,102.3/100K 37.4% vs 2023
2,0002,5003,0003,500 20202021202220232024 2,102

Universal City violent crime rate trend

Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR

Violent crime rate (2024)
258.4/100K 14.8% vs 2023
240260280300320 20202021202220232024 258
Year Coverage Population Violent Rate Property Rate
2020 Comparable 21,162 311.9 2476.1
2021 Comparable 21,265 258.6 2417.1
2022 Comparable 19,903 316.5 2667.9
2023 Comparable 20,112 303.3 3356.2
2024 Comparable 20,121 258.4 2102.3

How Universal City sits among TX peers

POP-MIDCOHORT-SIZEVIOL-LOWPROP-HIGHQUAD-LHGRADE-CNIBRSUCR-2024
Universal City 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. Universal City vs. similar-size TX cities, violent vs. property crime 97 583 Violent crime per 100K → 759 2,440 Property crime per 100K → Universal City 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
  • Universal City: 258 violent, 2102 property per 100,000 (grade C)
  • Glenn Heights: 235 violent, 844 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • La Marque: 540 violent, 2260 property per 100,000 (grade D)
  • Red Oak: 187 violent, 2089 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Seagoville: 108 violent, 1525 property per 100,000 (grade A)
  • Brenham: 531 violent, 2038 property per 100,000 (grade D)
  • Angleton: 254 violent, 952 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Crowley: 195 violent, 1493 property per 100,000 (grade B)
  • Portland: 156 violent, 844 property per 100,000 (grade A)

Universal City Police Department

Reporting agency for Universal City NIBRS-participating

Universal City Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Universal City's 475 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 Universal City in population. Their populations run from 19,775 to 20,506, against 20,121 here. Or use our side-by-side compare tool to benchmark two cities directly.

Universal City's closest TX violent-rate matches

Universal City sits at 258.4/100K violent (grade C); the Texas cities below are the nearest matches after size peers are removed.

Out-of-state peers for Universal City

Universal City at 258.4/100K violent and 2,102.3/100K property - matched below outside Texas (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).

More about Universal City's 2024 record

How many crimes were reported in Universal City?

In 2024, Universal City reported 52 violent crimes and 423 property crimes, for a total of 475 reported offenses.

Is crime increasing or decreasing in Universal City?

From 2023 to 2024, Universal City's violent crime rate decreased by 14.8%, and the property crime rate decreased by 37.4%.

What is the most common crime in Universal City?

The most common crime type in Universal City is larceny-theft, accounting for 67.4% of all reported crimes (320 incidents in 2024).

Mid-size read: Universal City 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 Universal City, TX rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.

Bulk download: city crime dataset (CSV/JSON)

Put this to use

Put the Universal City, 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. Universal City is scored in the mid-size municipal band (20,121 on the row). See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.