Amherst, VA crime & safety
Amherst's reported crime rate is below Virginia's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Amherst compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Amherst’s Safety Grade: B
Amherst reports less crime per resident than 63% of the U.S. towns and cities we 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 VA 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.
Amherst at a glance
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2023–2025
Show as a table
| Year | Amherst property | Virginia property | Amherst violent | Virginia violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 11.2 | 16.9 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| 2024 | 9 | 15.9 | 1.9 | 2.2 |
| 2025 | 8 | 13.9 | 0.5 | 2.1 |
2025, by type
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Local public safety
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 2,100, 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.
Mostly inland flooding. Expected storm and flood damage here is higher than in 28% of U.S. communities. 30 flood insurance claims paid since 1978.
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.