West Plains, MO carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 3% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, West Plains, MO shows violent crime at 361.2 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 1,806.2 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 3% above 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
361.2/100K violent
1806.2/100K property
+3% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for West Plains, MO
Comparable rate records
West Plains's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Missouri cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to West Plains's 361.2 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are St. Clair (362.6), El Dorado Springs (358.5), Pineville (358.4), Hannibal (358.0). 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
West Plains sits mid-pack among comparable Missouri cities
At 361.2 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, West Plains ranks 72 of 272 — above 200 of the 271 other Missouri cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +96.0% against the cohort median of 184.3. 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 397.4 per 100,000 in 2020 to 361.2 in 2024 (-9.1%). The highest observed value was 620.1 in 2021 and the lowest 361.2 in 2024. 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 16.7% of the 276 Part I offenses reported in West Plains for 2024, against a median of 13.4% across comparable Missouri cities — a gap of 3.2 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 West Plains'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.
West Plains's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 13.3 Census sq mi, West Plains logged 17.3 property and 3.5 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
West Plains's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (68% of 276 offenses; mix index 4,909).
Violent offenses are 17% of the municipal total; property offenses still dominate the count.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (13.3 sq mi); mix index is HHI x 10,000 on the offense-type shares above. Distinct from the per-100K rates in the hero.
Both rates shifted (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
-30.5%
519.7 → 361.2/100K
Property Crime Rate
-27.2%
2480.3 → 1806.2/100K
Property offenses lead West Plains's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs MO
Property Crime
230
1806.2
1971.6
Larceny-Theft
188
1476.4
-
Burglary
23
180.6
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
19
149.2
-
Arson
2
15.7
-
Violent Crime
46
361.2
463.3
Aggravated Assault
32
251.3
-
Rape
11
86.4
-
Robbery
3
23.6
-
Murder
0
0
-
West Plains Crime Trend (2020-2024)
West Plains 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
West Plains Police Department
Reporting agency for West Plains NIBRS-participating
West Plains Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind West Plains's 276 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 Missouri
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the Missouri cities closest to West Plains in population. Their populations run from 12,103 to 13,566, against 12,734 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
West Plains at 361.2/100K violent and 1,806.2/100K property - matched below outside Missouri (≥10k pop, latest UCR vintage; not the in-state lists above).
In 2024, West Plains reported 46 violent crimes and 230 property crimes, for a total of 276 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in West Plains?
From 2023 to 2024, West Plains's violent crime rate decreased by 30.5%, and the property crime rate decreased by 27.2%.
What is the most common crime in West Plains?
The most common crime type in West Plains is larceny-theft, accounting for 68.1% of all reported crimes (188 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: West Plains 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 West Plains, MO rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.