Williamston, NC carries a PlainCrime F safety grade with violent crime 230% above the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Williamston, NC shows violent crime at 1,161.4 per 100,000 residents and property crime at 6,407.7 per 100,000. Violent crime runs 230% above the U.S. average. PlainCrime assigns grade F from those rates. Figures are voluntary agency submissions joined to population denominators; incomplete coverage can move the number.
F safety grade
1161.4/100K violent
6407.7/100K property
+230% vs U.S.
The verdict
Williamston earns an F safety grade: violent crime runs 230% above the U.S. average, placing it among the highest-crime cities in the country.
F
PlainCrime safety grade
+230%
violent crime vs. U.S. average
2nd
percentile of 7,769 U.S. cities
6,407.7
property crimes per 100K
What the 2024 FBI UCR record shows for Williamston, NC
Position in the state cohort
Williamston reported a higher violent-crime rate than most comparable North Carolina cities
At 1161.4 reported violent offenses per 100,000 residents in 2024, Williamston ranks 7 of 206 — above 199 of the 205 other North Carolina cities whose 2024 submission passes this site’s completeness test. That is +340.8% against the cohort median of 263.5. 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
Williamston's closest reported-rate comparisons are in the North Carolina cohort
The nearest comparable 2024 records to Williamston's 1161.4 violent-crime rate per 100,000 are Goldsboro (1076.4), Selma (1049.1), Shelby (1044.1), Fairmont (1041.7). 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.
Offense mix
Violent offenses make up an unusually large share of the reported mix
Violent offenses are 15.3% of the 378 Part I offenses reported in Williamston for 2024, against a median of 11.4% across comparable North Carolina cities — a gap of 3.9 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 1282.8 per 100,000 in 2020 to 1161.4 in 2024 (-9.5%). The highest observed value was 1624.7 in 2022 and the lowest 1073.6 in 2023. Years whose submission failed the completeness test are left out of this comparison rather than plotted as change.
Property counts dominate Williamston'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.
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.
Both rates shifted (2023→2024)
Violent Crime Rate
+8.2%
1073.6 → 1161.4/100K
Property Crime Rate
-7.9%
6958.3 → 6407.7/100K
Property offenses lead Williamston's 2024 record
Offense
Count
Rate /100K
vs US avg
vs NC
Property Crime
320
6407.7
1711
1929.5
Larceny-Theft
254
5086.1
-
-
Burglary
58
1161.4
-
-
Motor Vehicle Theft
8
160.2
-
-
Arson
0
0
-
-
Violent Crime
58
1161.4
352
364.6
Aggravated Assault
46
921.1
-
-
Robbery
8
160.2
-
-
Murder
3
60.1
-
-
Rape
1
20
-
-
Williamston Crime Trend (2020-2024)
Williamston property crime rate trend
Lead series · rose across 5 comparable years · FBI UCR
Property crime rate (2024)
6,407.7/100K↓7.9%vs 2023
Williamston violent crime rate trend
Secondary series · fell · 2020-2024 · FBI UCR
Violent crime rate (2024)
1,161.4/100K↑8.2%vs 2023
Year
Coverage
Population
Violent Rate
Property Rate
Total Crimes
2020
Comparable
5,145
1282.8
5792
364
2021
Comparable
5,072
1360.4
5343.1
340
2022
Comparable
5,047
1624.7
4160.9
292
2023
Comparable
5,030
1073.6
6958.3
404
2024
Comparable
4,994
1161.4
6407.7
378
How Williamston sits among NC peers
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are the U.S. national averages
Reporting Agency
Williamston Police Department NIBRS-participating
Williamston's crime figures on this page originate from Williamston Police Department's submission to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
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 North Carolina
Crime rates read differently at different scales, so these are the North Carolina cities closest to Williamston in population. Their populations run from 4,812 to 5,126, against 4,994 here. Or use our
side-by-side compare tool
to benchmark two cities directly.
These North Carolina cities report the closest violent-crime rates to Williamston's 1,161.4/100K (same FBI UCR vintage rules; size peers above are excluded so the two lists stay distinct).
Williamston has a violent crime rate of 1161.4 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 6407.7 per 100,000, based on 2024 FBI UCR data.
Is Williamston, NC safe? ▼
Williamston receives a safety grade of F (High Risk), with a safety score of 0/100. The violent crime rate is 230% above the national average and 219% above the North Carolina average.
What is the population of Williamston, NC? ▼
The reporting population for Williamston is 4,994 as of 2024.
How many crimes were reported in Williamston? ▼
In 2024, Williamston reported 58 violent crimes and 320 property crimes, for a total of 378 reported offenses.
How do Williamston's reported offenses compare with its population? ▼
In 2024, Williamston recorded about one reported offense per 13 residents and one reported violent offense per 86 residents. These ratios count reported offenses, not distinct victims, and are not a person's probability of victimization.
Is crime increasing or decreasing in Williamston? ▼
From 2023 to 2024, Williamston's violent crime rate increased by 8.2%, and the property crime rate decreased by 7.9%.
What is the most common crime in Williamston? ▼
The most common crime type in Williamston is larceny-theft, accounting for 67.2% of all reported crimes (254 incidents in 2024).
Small-city read: Williamston 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 Williamston, NC rates use the reporting-year population on the municipal row.