West Hazleton, PA is higher-crime than most U.S. cities, and earns a B PlainCrime safety grade, where violent crime runs 1% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, West Hazleton, PA shows violent crime at 348.1 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 599.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 1% 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
348.1/100K violent
599.5/100K property
-1% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for West Hazleton, PA
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 5 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 184.2 per 100,000 in 2020 to 348.1 in 2024 (+88.9%). The highest observed value was 348.1 in 2024 and the lowest 0.0 in 2021. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 36.7% of the 49 Part I offenses reported in West Hazleton for 2024, against a median of 10.0% across comparable Pennsylvania cities — a gap of 26.7 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.
Small-count caution
The violent-crime count is small enough that the derived rate is unstable
West Hazleton reported 18 violent offences in 2024 against a population of 5,171. 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.
Position in the state cohort
West Hazleton reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable Pennsylvania cities
At 348.1 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, West Hazleton ranks 73 of 838 — above 765 of the 837 other Pennsylvania cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +432.9% against the cohort median of 65.3. Cities that did not report, or that reported implausibly low totals, are excluded from this cohort rather than counted as low-crime.
Comparable rate records
West Hazleton's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Pennsylvania cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to West Hazleton's 348.1 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Clifton Heights (339.3), Somerset (358.9), Reading (337.2), Kennedy Township (359.2). 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.
Property counts dominate West Hazleton'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 18 reported violent incidents in a population of 5,171. 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.
Small-city offense counts above are voluntary UCR submissions, not neighbourhood advice. Year-to-year swings can look large when the population base is modest.
West Hazleton's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 1.6 Census sq mi, West Hazleton logged 19.6 property and 11.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
West Hazleton leans on larceny-theft at 53% of reported offenses, with a moderate mix index of 3,969.
Violent offenses are 37% of the municipal total - a violence-heavy book for a small city.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (1.6 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Violent rate moved most (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+125%
154.7 → 348.1/100K
Property Crime Rate
-24.4%
792.7 → 599.5/100K
Property offenses lead West Hazleton's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
31
599.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
26
502.8
-
Burglary
4
77.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
1
19.3
-
Arson
0
0
-
Violent Crime
18
348.1
352
Aggravated Assault
16
309.4
-
Robbery
2
38.7
-
Murder
0
0
-
Rape
0
0
-
West Hazleton Crime Trend (2020-2024)
The chart omits 2021 rather than drawing an unsupported zero or partial-coverage dip. The table preserves the year and marks the gap.
West Hazleton property crime rate trend
Lead series · fell across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averagesRead the chart as a list
West Hazleton: 348 violent, 600 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Springfield Township, Bucks County: 0 violent, 347 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Washington Township, Northampton County: 78 violent, 582 property per 100,000 (grade A)
Titusville: 292 violent, 292 property per 100,000 (grade B)
Parkesburg: 96 violent, 58 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Fox Chapel: 0 violent, 293 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Mill Hall: 39 violent, 0 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
Briar Creek Township: 20 violent, 469 property per 100,000 (grade A+)
West Hazleton Police Department
Reporting agency for West Hazleton Summary Reporting (SRS)
West Hazleton Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind West Hazleton's 49 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
This agency reports via the traditional Summary Reporting System (SRS): aggregate monthly offense counts rather than incident-level detail.
Similar-Size Cities in Pennsylvania
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Pennsylvania cities closest to West Hazleton in population. Their populations run from 5,123 to 5,210, against 5,171 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, West Hazleton reported 18 violent crimes and 31 property crimes, for a total of 49 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in West Hazleton?
From 2023 to 2024, West Hazleton's violent crime rate increased by 125%, and the property crime rate decreased by 24.4%.
What is the most common crime in West Hazleton?
The most common crime type in West Hazleton is larceny-theft, accounting for 53.1% of all reported crimes (26 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: West Hazleton is sourced from FBI UCR Table 8 for 2024; rates use that row's population.
Small-city rows use the same per-100,000 formula; a few unreported years can leave gaps in the trend table. Verify the agency's submission on FBI.gov UCR.
Disclaimer (small city): UCR counts here are informational only. They are not a victimization probability. Source: FBI UCR Program.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program CIUS Table 8 municipal crime rates · 2024 West Hazleton, PA rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.