Safety · Durham
Durham, NC crime & safety
Durham's reported crime rate is well above North Carolina's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 1,556 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Durham compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
TownTapestry Safety GradeNew
D
Durham’s Safety Grade: D
Durham reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less.
DViolent crimeDProperty crime▼Improving since 2023
All U.S. towns we grade (6,620)Safer than 6%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
North Carolina towns we grade (160)Safer than 20%
Places of 100,000+ people (304)Safer than 22%
High confidence. Built on 38,831 incidents over 3 years; ordinary year-to-year swings wouldn't change the grade.
How the Safety Grade works
- One score, from FBI data. Property crimes + 4 × violent crimes reported to police, per resident, pooled over the FBI’s latest 3 years (2023–2025). Violent crime counts four times as much because it matters more to how safe a place feels. It’s the same score behind our Safest towns in NC ranking.
- Graded on a national curve. Every U.S. town and city with 1,000+ residents that reported all 3 years (6,620 places) is lined up by score: A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Violent and property sub-grades use the same curve on each rate alone.
- Trend compares 2025 with 2023 and only says “improving” or “rising” when the change is bigger than normal year-to-year swings.
- Not graded: towns under 1,000 people, and towns missing any of the 3 years.
- What it can’t see: unreported crime, traffic safety, or which part of town incidents happen in. Towns with a campus, highway or big shopping center count incidents involving visitors. It’s our own summary of public data, not an official rating.
Reported crime, 2025
Durham at a glance
Violent crime
5.1
per 1,000 residents · North Carolina 3.3
Property crime
35.8
per 1,000 residents · North Carolina 18.1
Incidents reported
12,558
1,556 violent · 11,002 property
Since 2022
▲ 8%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
DurhamNorth Carolina
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Durham property | North Carolina property | Durham violent | North Carolina violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 33.2 | 21 | 6.9 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | 37.6 | 21.1 | 6.4 | 4 |
| 2024 | 38 | 20.1 | 6.2 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 35.8 | 18.1 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
8,137
Burglary
1,250
Vehicle theft
1,615
Aggravated assault
919
Robbery
443
Rape
160
Homicide
34
Arson
42
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Durham safe
Local public safety
👮 Durham Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
Durham and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people. Grade: the Safety Grade; — = not graded.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | D | 5.1 | 35.8 | 2025 |
| Chapel Hill | C | 0.8 | 17.7 | 2025 |
| Raleigh | D | 3.9 | 22.9 | 2025 |
| Morrisville | C | 0.8 | 22.9 | 2025 |
| Cary | B | 0.7 | 9.6 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Gorman.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 307,100, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.