Safety · Clayton
Clayton, NM crime & safety
Clayton's reported crime rate is well below New Mexico's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Clayton compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
TownTapestry Safety GradeNew
B
Clayton’s Safety Grade: B
Clayton reports less crime per resident than 61% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade.
C+Violent crimeA-Property crime→Steady since 2023
All U.S. towns we grade (6,620)Safer than 61%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
New Mexico towns we grade (29)Safer than 90%
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,167)Safer than 51%
Lower confidence. Built on 57 incidents over 3 years. With counts this size, ordinary swings could put Clayton anywhere from B- to B+.
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 NM 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
Clayton at a glance
Violent crime
0.8
per 1,000 residents · New Mexico 6.5
Property crime
2.8
per 1,000 residents · New Mexico 23.5
Incidents reported
9
2 violent · 7 property
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
ClaytonNew Mexico
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Clayton property | New Mexico property | Clayton violent | New Mexico violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.1 | 31.8 | 1.4 | 8.3 |
| 2023 | 1.2 | 31 | 1.6 | 7.9 |
| 2024 | 10.9 | 28.9 | 5.1 | 7.4 |
| 2025 | 2.8 | 23.5 | 0.8 | 6.5 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
6
Burglary
1
Vehicle theft
0
Aggravated assault
2
Robbery
0
Rape
0
Homicide
0
Arson
0
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Clayton safe
Local public safety
👮 Clayton 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.
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 2,500, 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.