Waynesboro, VA is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 30% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Waynesboro, VA shows violent crime at 245 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,516.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 30% 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
245/100K violent
1516.5/100K property
-30% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Waynesboro, VA
Comparable rate records
Waynesboro's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Virginia cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Waynesboro's 245.0 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Chase City (243.5), Hampton (247.6), Colonial Beach (247.9), Herndon (239.4). 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
Waynesboro sits mid-pack among comparable Virginia cities
At 245.0 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Waynesboro ranks 47 of 125 — above 78 of the 124 other Virginia cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +29.8% against the cohort median of 188.7. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Property-offense composition
Burglary and vehicle theft carry more of the property total than they do across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 76.6% of reported property offenses in Waynesboro, against a cohort median of 86.7%. The remainder is burglary (40) and motor vehicle theft (44). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 13.9% of the 417 Part I offenses reported in Waynesboro for 2024, against a median of 10.4% across comparable Virginia cities — a gap of 3.5 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window lower
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 254.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 245.0 in 2024 (-3.7%). The highest observed value was 266.4 in 2021 and the lowest 213.9 in 2022. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Waynesboro'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.
Waynesboro's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 15 Census sq mi, Waynesboro logged 24 property and 3.9 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Waynesboro's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (66% of 417 offenses; mix index 4,645).
Violent offenses are only 14% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (15 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
-22.5%
1956.9 → 1516.5/100K
Violent Crime Rate
+6.8%
229.5 → 245/100K
Property offenses lead Waynesboro's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
359
1516.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
275
1161.7
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
44
185.9
-
Burglary
40
169
-
Arson
6
25.3
-
Violent Crime
58
245
352
Aggravated Assault
37
156.3
-
Rape
13
54.9
-
Robbery
6
25.3
-
Murder
2
8.4
-
Waynesboro Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Waynesboro 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
Waynesboro Police Department
Reporting agency for Waynesboro NIBRS-participating
Waynesboro Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Waynesboro's 417 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 Virginia
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Virginia cities closest to Waynesboro in population. Their populations run from 18,605 to 27,700, against 23,673 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
Waynesboro at 245/100K violent and 1,516.5/100K property - matched below outside Virginia (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, Waynesboro reported 58 violent crimes and 359 property crimes, for a total of 417 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Waynesboro?
From 2023 to 2024, Waynesboro's violent crime rate increased by 6.8%, and the property crime rate decreased by 22.5%.
What is the most common crime in Waynesboro?
The most common crime type in Waynesboro is larceny-theft, accounting for 65.9% of all reported crimes (275 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Waynesboro 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 Waynesboro, VA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.