University Park, MD is among the safest cities in the country, and earns an A PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 88% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, University Park, MD shows violent crime at 42.4 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,059.8 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 88% below the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade A from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
A safety grade
42.4/100K violent
1059.8/100K property
-88% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for University Park, MD
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
University Park reported 1 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 2,359. At this volume one additional or one fewer report moves the per-100,000 rate noticeably, so the figure is better read as a data point than as a precise measurement, and year-to-year swings here are expected.
Comparable rate records
University Park's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Maryland cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to University Park's 42.4 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Ocean Pines (32.7), Pittsville (61.1), Smithsburg (62.4), Hancock (64.2). 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
University Park reported a lower violent-crime rate than most comparable Maryland cities
At 42.4 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, University Park ranks 63 of 72 — above 9 of the 71 other Maryland cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -85.5% against the cohort median of 293.0. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 3.8% of the 26 Part I offenses reported in University Park for 2024, against a median of 14.6% across comparable Maryland cities — a gap of 10.8 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 University Park'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.
Based on 1 reported violent incidents in a population of 2,359. At this volume, one additional or one fewer report can shift the rate and letter grade noticeably; small-city crime counts are inherently more volatile year to year than large-city counts, so treat this grade as a data point, not a precise ranking.
On a small municipal row, small denominators make rates sensitive to a handful of incidents. Figures are reported totals, not neighbourhood advice.
University Park's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 0.5 Census sq mi, University Park logged 50.3 property and 2 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
University Park's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (73% of 26 offenses; mix index 5,621).
Violent offenses are only 4% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (0.5 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
-35.9%
1653.2 → 1059.8/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+0%
42.4 → 42.4/100K
Property offenses lead University Park's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MD
Property Crime
25
1059.8
2074.5
Larceny-Theft
19
805.4
-
Burglary
3
127.2
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
3
127.2
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
1
42.4
425.1
Aggravated Assault
1
42.4
-
Murder
0
0
-
Rape
0
0
-
Robbery
0
0
-
University Park Crime Trend (2020-2024)
University Park property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
University Park Police Department
Reporting agency for University Park NIBRS-participating
University Park Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind University Park's 26 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 Maryland
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Maryland cities closest to University Park in population. Their populations run from 1,928 to 2,797, against 2,359 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, University Park reported 1 violent crimes and 25 property crimes, for a total of 26 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in University Park?
From 2023 to 2024, University Park's violent crime rate increased by 0%, and the property crime rate decreased by 35.9%.
What is the most common crime in University Park?
The most common crime type in University Park is larceny-theft, accounting for 73.1% of all reported crimes (19 incidents in 2024).
Micro-municipal read: University Park's FBI UCR Table 8 row (2024) is the only source for the rates above.
With a small population base, per-100,000 rates amplify sparse counts. Incomplete submissions are excluded from rankings. See FBI.gov UCR for the raw Table 8 file.
Disclaimer (small municipal): small-base rates are especially easy to misread. Informational only - not advice. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 University Park, MD rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.