State crime profile · 2024
Nebraska Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities
Crime data for 47 cities and 48 of 93 counties in Nebraska (NE), ranked safest to most dangerous from 287 reporting agencies.
Data updated 2026-07-13
- 217.3
- Violent / 100K
- 1,630.8
- Property / 100K
- 47
- Cities
- 48
- Counties
Nebraska violent crime is 217.3 per 100,000, 38% below the U.S. average
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for 2024, Nebraska records 217.3 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, 38% below the national average (about the 8th-safest of 51 states and D.C.). Statewide averages hide city and county variation; UCR participation is voluntary.
- 217.3 violent crimes per 100K
- -38% vs. the U.S. average
- 8th safest of 51 states & DC
- 1,630.8 property crimes per 100K
The verdict
Nebraska's 217.3 violent crimes per 100,000 runs 38% below the U.S. average, making it one of the safest states in the country.
- 217.3
- violent crimes per 100K
- -38%
- vs. the U.S. average
- 8th
- safest of 51 states & DC
- 1,630.8
- property crimes per 100K
How safe is Nebraska? FBI UCR data snapshot
Nebraska (NE) reported 4,358 violent crimes and 32,705 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 287 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 217.3 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1630.8 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 2,005,465. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 47 Nebraska cities and 48 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.
The FBI's state-level summary reports violent and property crime as aggregate totals rather than broken out by individual offense type (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson). For an offense-by-offense breakdown, see the individual city and county pages for Nebraska below, which draw on FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10 and do report each offense type separately.
Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 261.4 to 217.3 per 100,000, a decline of 16.9%. City-level detail pages within Nebraska include safety grades (A+ to F), benchmarks against national averages, per-capita risk estimates, and multi-year trend tables for users comparing specific jurisdictions. All figures above are drawn from FBI UCR 2024 submissions; reporting completeness varies by agency, and the FBI periodically restates prior-year figures as late submissions arrive.
State figures roll up the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) submissions from local and county agencies across the state, then express them per 100,000 residents so one state can be compared with another. Statewide averages hide a great deal of variation: a handful of large cities often account for much of a state's reported violent crime, while most of its land area and population live with markedly lower rates. Reporting completeness also differs between states, so a year-over-year change can reflect which agencies filed data as much as any real shift on the ground. Read a state number as the broad backdrop, then drill into the city and county pages for the local detail that actually shapes day-to-day decisions.
How Nebraska ranks nationally
Nebraska vs. every U.S. state
Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.
217 Safer than 84% among 51 U.S. states
Each bar is a band of values; taller bars hold more U.S. states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · 2024
Safest Cities
Top 50 by lowest violent crime rate
Most Dangerous Cities
Top 50 by highest violent crime rate
Crime Trends
Multi-year charts & analysis
Crime Trends
| Year | Population | Violent Crime | Rate | Property Crime | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2,005,465 | 4,358 | 217.3 | 32,705 | 1630.8 |
| 2023 | 1,978,379 | 3,371 | 170.4 | 27,615 | 1395.8 |
| 2022 | 1,967,923 | 5,562 | 282.6 | 37,154 | 1888 |
| 2021 | 1,963,692 | 3,003 | 152.9 | 19,962 | 1016.6 |
| 2020 | 1,937,552 | 5,986 | 308.9 | 34,502 | 1780.7 |
| 2019 | 1,934,408 | 5,774 | 298.5 | 39,078 | 2020.2 |
| 2018 | 1,929,268 | 5,483 | 284.2 | 39,730 | 2059.3 |
| 2017 | 1,920,076 | 5,604 | 291.9 | 41,428 | 2157.6 |
| 2016 | 1,907,116 | 5,373 | 281.7 | 42,474 | 2227.1 |
| 2015 | 1,896,190 | 4,925 | 259.7 | 41,909 | 2210.2 |
| 2014 | 1,881,503 | 4,918 | 261.4 | 46,260 | 2458.7 |
Cities in Nebraska
Safest cities in Nebraska
Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.
- Bellevue 99.2
Bellevue
99.2 /100K
- Fremont
Fremont
180.1 /100K
- Norfolk
Norfolk
202 /100K
- Kearney
Kearney
301.2 /100K
- Lincoln
Lincoln
347.9 /100K
- Grand Island
Grand Island
367.7 /100K
- Omaha
Omaha
369 /100K
What this shows Bellevue is the safest sizeable city in Nebraska, at 99.2 violent crimes per 100,000.
Highest violent-crime cities in Nebraska
Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.
- Omaha
Omaha
369 /100K
- Grand Island
Grand Island
367.7 /100K
- Lincoln
Lincoln
347.9 /100K
- Kearney
Kearney
301.2 /100K
- Norfolk
Norfolk
202 /100K
- Fremont
Fremont
180.1 /100K
- Bellevue 99.2
Bellevue
99.2 /100K
What this shows Omaha reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in Nebraska, at 369 per 100,000.
| City | Population | Violent / 100K | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha | 480,235 | 369 | D |
| Lincoln | 295,808 | 347.9 | C |
| Bellevue | 63,510 | 99.2 | A |
| Grand Island | 52,488 | 367.7 | C |
| Kearney | 34,525 | 301.2 | C |
| Fremont | 27,767 | 180.1 | B |
| Norfolk | 26,234 | 202 | B |
| Hastings | 24,815 | 318.4 | C |
| Columbus | 24,595 | 85.4 | A |
| Papillion | 23,597 | 33.9 | A |
| North Platte | 22,268 | 148.2 | B |
| La Vista | 16,205 | 49.4 | A |
| Scottsbluff | 15,306 | 588 | F |
| South Sioux City | 13,801 | 181.1 | C |
| Beatrice | 12,272 | 81.5 | A |
| Lexington | 10,867 | 128.8 | A |
| York | 8,220 | 194.6 | B |
| Alliance | 8,024 | 236.8 | B |
| Blair | 8,018 | 124.7 | A |
| Seward | 7,664 | 78.3 | A |
| Nebraska City | 7,483 | 120.3 | A |
| Crete | 7,463 | 201 | C |
| McCook | 7,200 | 41.7 | A |
| Plattsmouth | 6,879 | 14.5 | A+ |
| Schuyler | 6,529 | 122.5 | A |
| Sidney | 6,448 | 124.1 | A |
| Ralston | 6,374 | 109.8 | A |
| Wayne | 6,232 | 128.4 | A |
| Chadron | 5,134 | 214.3 | B |
| Wahoo | 5,040 | 99.2 | A |
| Aurora | 4,717 | 63.6 | A+ |
| Ogallala | 4,618 | 173.2 | B |
| Falls City | 4,016 | 124.5 | A |
| Cozad | 3,917 | 102.1 | A |
| O'Neill | 3,576 | 111.9 | A |
| Broken Bow | 3,552 | 84.5 | A+ |
| Gothenburg | 3,414 | 0 | A+ |
| Valley | 3,301 | 0 | A+ |
| Minden | 3,140 | 63.7 | A |
| Valentine | 2,632 | 228 | B |
| St. Paul | 2,430 | 82.3 | A |
| Milford | 2,231 | 179.3 | A |
| Pierce | 1,812 | 0 | A+ |
| Gordon | 1,427 | 140.2 | B |
| Laurel | 940 | 0 | A+ |
| Waterloo | 903 | 332.2 | B |
| Boys Town | 696 | 574.7 | D |
Counties in Nebraska
48 of 93 Census county-equivalents (51.6%) appear in FBI Table 10 for this vintage. Missing counties are absent from the FBI source for this year, not dropped by PlainCrime. See national county coverage and methodology.
Largest counties in Nebraska, violent crime per 100K
Top 8 counties by population, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.
- Douglas 14.7
Douglas
14.7 /100K
- Lancaster 2.8
Lancaster
2.8 /100K
- Sarpy 14.2
Sarpy
14.2 /100K
- Hall 12.7
Hall
12.7 /100K
- Buffalo 45.9
Buffalo
45.9 /100K
- Dodge
Dodge
129.1 /100K
- Scotts Bluff
Scotts Bluff
133 /100K
- Madison 11.2
Madison
11.2 /100K
Nearby States
Compare Nebraska with neighboring states, or use the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.
Explore Nebraska crime data
Primary source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Crime in the United States annual release. State-level trends cross-check against the FBI Crime Data Explorer (CDE) API.
Population figures for rate calculations reference U.S. Census Bureau estimates where FBI-reported populations are unavailable. Verify with Census.gov QuickFacts.
Read our methodology , how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Using PlainCrime rankings responsibly
Crime rankings are most useful when they sit alongside other community-quality signals, school performance, housing affordability, employment, and access to healthcare. A safer-than-average violent-crime rate in a small commuter suburb does not by itself make a city a better place to live; it is one data point among many. Likewise, a higher-than-average rate in a dense urban center may reflect that residents and visitors interact with police more often, not that the city is necessarily unsafe for its residents. We provide cross-links from each city profile to neighboring jurisdictions, state averages, and national benchmarks so you can read each number in context rather than in isolation.
For news outlets, researchers, and concerned residents who cite our rankings, the most defensible approach is to quote the per-100,000 rate, the reporting year, and the source agency in the same sentence. Avoid framing crime statistics as predictive, UCR data describes what was reported in a past year, not what will happen tomorrow. Where possible, pair our rankings with longitudinal trend data on the relevant city's profile page to show whether the rate is moving up, holding steady, or falling year over year.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program State UCR aggregates · 2024 Nebraska statewide rates from participating agencies.
Every figure on PlainCrime is rendered directly from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.