Westminster, MD carries a PlainCrime C safety grade with violent crime 31% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Westminster, MD shows violent crime at 241.9 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 2,041.5 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 31% 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
241.9/100K violent
2041.5/100K property
-31% vs U.S.
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Westminster, MD
Comparable rate records
Westminster's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the Maryland cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Westminster's 241.9 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Bel Air (239.9), Chestertown (231.5), Gaithersburg (252.9), Cheverly (217.8). 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.
2020–2024 direction
The reported violent-crime rate ended the window higher
Across 4 comparable reporting years, the rate moved from 193.0 per 100,000 in 2020 to 241.9 in 2024 (+25.3%). The highest observed value was 371.9 in 2022 and the lowest 193.0 in 2020. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property-offense composition
Larceny-theft dominates the property total more than it does across the cohort
Larceny-theft is 91.5% of reported property offenses in Westminster, against a cohort median of 77.3%. The remainder is burglary (22) and motor vehicle theft (14). Composition differences of this size usually track what kinds of places and property are present in a jurisdiction.
Offense mix
The reported mix leans further toward property offenses than the state cohort
Violent offenses are 10.6% of the 472 Part I offenses reported in Westminster for 2024, against a median of 14.6% across comparable Maryland cities — a gap of 4.0 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.
Position in the state cohort
Westminster sits mid-pack among comparable Maryland cities
At 241.9 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Westminster ranks 38 of 72 — above 34 of the 71 other Maryland cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is -17.4% 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.
Property counts dominate Westminster'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.
Westminster's 2024 municipal footprint
Across 6.8 Census sq mi, Westminster logged 62.4 property and 7.4 violent offenses per square mile in 2024.
Westminster's 2024 book concentrates in larceny-theft (82% of 472 offenses; mix index 6,791).
Violent offenses are only 11% of the municipal total - a property-led book.
Density uses Census Gazetteer land area (6.8 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
+15.4%
1768.7 → 2041.5/100K
Violent Crime Rate
-6.3%
258.2 → 241.9/100K
Property offenses lead Westminster's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
Property Crime
422
2041.5
1711
Larceny-Theft
386
1867.4
-
Burglary
22
106.4
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
14
67.7
-
Arson
5
24.2
-
Violent Crime
50
241.9
352
Aggravated Assault
39
188.7
-
Rape
6
29
-
Robbery
5
24.2
-
Murder
0
0
-
Westminster 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.
Westminster property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 4 comparable years · FBI UCR
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Westminster Police Department
Reporting agency for Westminster NIBRS-participating
Westminster Police Department filed the 2024 UCR row behind Westminster's 472 reported offenses (4-year span 2020-2024, with internal gaps).
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 Westminster in population. Their populations run from 15,099 to 24,193, against 20,671 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
In 2024, Westminster reported 50 violent crimes and 422 property crimes, for a total of 472 reported offenses.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Westminster?
From 2023 to 2024, Westminster's violent crime rate decreased by 6.3%, and the property crime rate increased by 15.4%.
What is the most common crime in Westminster?
The most common crime type in Westminster is larceny-theft, accounting for 81.8% of all reported crimes (386 incidents in 2024).
Mid-size read: Westminster 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 Westminster, MD rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.