State crime profile · 2024

Virginia Crime Rates: Safest & Most Dangerous Cities

Crime data for 125 cities and 85 counties in Virginia (VA), ranked safest to most dangerous from 415 reporting agencies.

222.8
Violent / 100K
1,590.1
Property / 100K
125
Cities
85
Counties

The verdict

Virginia's 222.8 violent crimes per 100,000 runs 37% below the U.S. average, making it one of the safest states in the country.

222.8
violent crimes per 100K
-37%
vs. the U.S. average
10th
safest of 51 states & DC
1,590.1
property crimes per 100K

How safe is Virginia? FBI UCR data snapshot

Virginia (VA) reported 19,630 violent crimes and 140,103 property crimes in 2024, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program submissions from 415 law enforcement agencies. That translates to a statewide violent crime rate of 222.8 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1590.1 per 100,000 against a reporting population of 8,811,195. The PlainCrime dataset indexes 125 Virginia cities and 85 counties, each with their own detail pages and local crime figures drawn from FBI UCR Tables 8 and 10.

Within the statewide violent crime total, aggravated assault accounted for 0 incidents, robbery 0, murder and non-negligent manslaughter 0, and rape 0. Property crime splits across larceny-theft (0), burglary (0), motor vehicle theft (0), and arson (0).

Across 11 years of state-level UCR history (2014–2024), the violent crime rate moved from 198.2 to 222.8 per 100,000, a rise of 12.4%. City-level detail pages within Virginia 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.

Violent Crime Rate
222.8/100K
Property Crime Rate
1590.1/100K
Population
8,811,195
Data Year
2024

How Virginia ranks nationally

Virginia vs. every U.S. state

Violent crime per 100,000 residents, FBI UCR 2024. Lower is safer.

223 Safer than 80% lower than 80% of 51 U.S. states

0–100: 0 U.S. states (0%). Below this entry. 100–200: 6 U.S. states (12%). Below this entry. 200–300: 18 U.S. states (35%). This entry sits in this band. 300–400: 10 U.S. states (20%). Above this entry. 400–500: 12 U.S. states (24%). Above this entry. 500–600: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 600–700: 2 U.S. states (4%). Above this entry. 700–800: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 800–900: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. 900–1,000: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. 1,000–1,100: 1 U.S. states (2%). Above this entry. 1,100+: 0 U.S. states (0%). Above this entry. VA 0 1,100+ every state & DC, bucketed by value

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 8,811,195 19,630 222.8 140,103 1590.1
2023 8,715,698 21,169 242.9 146,784 1684.1
2022 8,683,619 20,791 239.4 149,744 1724.4
2021 8,642,274 19,649 227.4 126,545 1464.3
2020 8,590,563 18,504 215.4 127,132 1479.9
2019 8,535,519 18,137 212.5 141,566 1658.6
2018 8,517,685 17,520 205.7 143,426 1683.9
2017 8,470,020 17,914 211.5 152,835 1804.4
2016 8,411,808 18,429 219.1 157,510 1872.5
2015 8,382,993 16,698 199.2 158,615 1892.1
2014 8,326,289 16,500 198.2 162,526 1952

Cities in Virginia

Safest cities in Virginia

Cities with 25,000+ residents, lowest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Blacksburg is the safest sizeable city in Virginia, at 76.5 violent crimes per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024

Highest violent-crime cities in Virginia

Cities with 25,000+ residents, highest violent crime per 100,000, FBI UCR 2024. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K

What this shows Petersburg reports the highest big-city violent-crime rate in Virginia, at 1,043.6 per 100,000.

Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Virginia's largest cities — violent vs. property crime. X axis violent crime per 100K, Y axis property crime per 100K, split by the national averages. 14 cities; the anchor city is ringed. Virginia's largest cities — violent vs. property crime SAFEST HIGHEST CRIME 69 813 Violent crime per 100K → 644 4,380 Property crime per 100K → Virginia Beach: 92 violent · 1,640 property per 100K · grade A Virginia Beach Chesapeake: 339 violent · 1,744 property per 100K · grade C Chesapeake Richmond: 337 violent · 3,179 property per 100K · grade D Richmond Norfolk: 470 violent · 3,773 property per 100K · grade F Norfolk Newport News: 736 violent · 2,416 property per 100K · grade F Alexandria: 219 violent · 2,640 property per 100K · grade C Hampton: 248 violent · 2,882 property per 100K · grade C Suffolk: 371 violent · 1,571 property per 100K · grade C Portsmouth: 752 violent · 3,861 property per 100K · grade F Roanoke: 620 violent · 4,056 property per 100K · grade F Lynchburg: 357 violent · 1,738 property per 100K · grade C Harrisonburg: 267 violent · 1,693 property per 100K · grade C Leesburg: 256 violent · 1,574 property per 100K · grade B Blacksburg: 77 violent · 715 property per 100K · grade A Safety grade A / B C D / F
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program · split lines are Virginia's statewide averages · the four largest cities are labeled
City Population Violent / 100K Grade
Virginia Beach 455,155 92.3 A
Chesapeake 257,248 339.4 C
Richmond 231,805 336.9 D
Norfolk 230,460 469.5 F
Newport News 183,563 736 F
Alexandria 155,153 219.1 C
Hampton 138,100 247.6 C
Suffolk 103,506 371 C
Portsmouth 97,156 752.4 F
Roanoke 97,027 620.4 F
Lynchburg 80,339 357.2 C
Harrisonburg 51,270 267.2 C
Leesburg 49,626 255.9 B
Blacksburg 45,734 76.5 A
Charlottesville 44,844 359 D
Manassas 43,028 274.2 C
Danville 41,915 365 D
Petersburg 33,538 1,043.6 F
Fredericksburg 29,474 603.9 F
Winchester 27,700 238.3 C
Staunton 26,151 141.5 B
Fairfax City 25,672 128.5 C
Herndon 25,058 239.4 B
Waynesboro 23,673 245 B
Hopewell 22,843 380.9 C
Christiansburg 22,297 224.2 C
Culpeper 21,302 122.1 B
Colonial Heights 18,605 462.2 D
Radford 17,399 212.7 B
Bristol 16,775 435.2 D
Vienna 16,258 61.5 A
Manassas Park 16,228 80.1 A
Williamsburg 16,098 198.8 B
Front Royal 15,524 335 C
Falls Church 14,801 101.3 A
Martinsville 13,968 386.6 C
Poquoson 12,788 312.8 B
Warrenton 10,265 97.4 A
Smithfield 9,137 175.1 B
Purcellville 8,918 22.4 A+
Pulaski 8,818 567 F
Franklin 8,469 460.5 D
Abingdon 8,310 132.4 B
Wytheville 8,138 61.4 B
Vinton 8,044 149.2 B
Ashland 7,903 594.7 F
South Boston 7,757 464.1 D
Lexington 7,656 130.6 A
Farmville 7,477 548.3 F
Strasburg 7,312 191.5 B
Bridgewater 6,823 29.3 A+
Bedford 6,819 190.6 B
Galax 6,770 310.2 D
Buena Vista 6,598 45.5 A+
Dumfries 5,985 133.7 A
Woodstock 5,983 133.7 B
Marion 5,576 286.9 C
Covington 5,522 181.1 B
Emporia 5,426 1,068.9 F
Orange 5,249 400.1 C
Big Stone Gap 5,071 118.3 A
Richlands 5,037 397.1 C
Rocky Mount 4,990 140.3 C
South Hill 4,949 404.1 D
Berryville 4,849 41.2 A+
Bluefield 4,845 61.9 B
Luray 4,829 41.4 A
Broadway 4,366 45.8 A+
Tazewell 4,282 163.5 A
Colonial Beach 4,034 247.9 B
West Point 3,574 139.9 A
Norton 3,458 231.3 C
Clifton Forge 3,339 209.6 B
Blackstone 3,329 210.3 B
Altavista 3,316 271.4 C
Chincoteague 3,249 123.1 A
Lebanon 3,097 129.2 B
Elkton 3,068 65.2 A
Grottoes 3,029 264.1 B
Windsor 2,950 203.4 B
Wise 2,861 69.9 B
Hillsville 2,847 140.5 A
Pearisburg 2,806 106.9 B
Dublin 2,656 188.3 B
Shenandoah 2,479 121 A
Crewe 2,231 493.1 D
New Market 2,208 90.6 A
Louisa 2,205 90.7 A
Tappahannock 2,186 320.2 D
Stephens City 2,146 46.6 A
Amherst 2,114 189.2 B
Chase City 2,053 243.5 B
Mount Jackson 2,023 0 A
Gate City 2,015 198.5 B
Saltville 1,766 56.6 A+
Victoria 1,749 343.1 C
Stanley 1,704 58.7 A
Warsaw 1,686 0 A+
Chilhowie 1,608 124.4 B
Haymarket 1,578 63.4 A
Showing the 100 largest of 125 reporting cities. Open a city for its full grade and breakdown, or see the safest and most dangerous rankings.

Counties in Virginia

Largest counties in Virginia, violent crime per 100K

Top 8 counties by population, violent crime per 100,000 residents. Hover a bar for the exact rate.

/100K
Source FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program As of 2024
Accomack
Alleghany
Amelia
Amherst
Appomattox
Augusta
Bath
Bedford
Bland
Botetourt
Brunswick
Buchanan
Buckingham
Campbell
Caroline
Carroll
Charles City
Charlotte
Clarke
Craig
Culpeper
Cumberland
Dickenson
Dinwiddie
Essex
Fauquier
Floyd
Fluvanna
Franklin
Frederick
Giles
Gloucester
Goochland
Grayson
Greene
Greensville
Halifax
Hanover
Henry
Highland
Isle of Wight
King and Queen
King George
King William
Lancaster
Lee
Loudoun
Louisa
Lunenburg
Madison
Mathews
Mecklenburg
Middlesex
Montgomery
Nelson
New Kent
Northampton
Northumberland
Nottoway
Orange
Page
Patrick
Pittsylvania
Powhatan
Prince Edward
Pulaski
Rappahannock
Richmond
Rockbridge
Rockingham
Russell
Scott
Shenandoah
Smyth
Southampton
Spotsylvania
Stafford
Surry
Sussex
Tazewell
Warren
Washington
Westmoreland
Wise
York

Nearby States

Compare Virginia with neighboring states, or use the compare tool for side-by-side jurisdiction benchmarking.

Utah
UT
Vermont
VT
Washington
WA
West Virginia
WV
Wisconsin
WI

Explore Virginia crime data

Safest cities → Most dangerous cities → Crime trends → National rankings → Crime grades → Methodology →

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.