Crime Rate in Washington, DC (2025)
The FBI-based Crime Index for Washington, built from FBI Crime Data Explorer reports for 2025. Scores run 0–100 (higher = safer).
Crime Index
Is Washington safe?
For 2025, Washington scores 40/100 on our FBI-based Crime Index — a grade E (high risk), which means it reports more crime than the typical US city. Its violent-crime rate of 748 per 100k is 2.4× the US average, and robbery stands out most: 2,198 reported in 2025, 6.6× the national rate. It ranks #1 most dangerous of 1 city in District of Columbia.
Safer than 9% of the 759 US cities we track
Annual odds of a reported violent crime per resident
Annual odds of a reported property crime per resident
Odds are the reported 2025 rate expressed per resident, city-wide — your actual risk varies by neighborhood, time, and situation.
Crime trend in Washington
Reported crime by offense
Each bar is scaled to the US average for that offense — the dashed line marks 1×. Bars past it run above the national norm; hover a row for detail.
Violent crime
- Washington
- 16.6 /100k · 115 total
- US average
- 4.1 /100k
- Washington
- 24.5 /100k · 170 total
- US average
- 35.2 /100k
- Washington
- 317 /100k · 2,198 total
- US average
- 47.9 /100k
- Washington
- 390 /100k · 2,707 total
- US average
- 228 /100k
Property crime
- Washington
- 194 /100k · 1,348 total
- US average
- 187 /100k
- Washington
- 2,235 /100k · 15,500 total
- US average
- 1,099 /100k
- Washington
- 653 /100k · 4,531 total
- US average
- 192 /100k
- Washington
- 0 /100k · 0 total
- US average
- 9.4 /100k
Rates shown are per 100,000 residents.
Homicide rate
Homicide anchors the Crime Index — see methodology.
How Washington compares
Washington against the District of Columbia and US averages for 2025.
| Metric | Washington | District of Columbia | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Index (higher = safer) | 40E | 36E | 73C |
| Violent crime /100k | 748 | 805 | 315 |
| Property crime /100k | 3,082 | 3,164 | 1,487 |
| Homicide /100k | 16.6 | 16.7 | 4.1 |
| Total reported /100k | 3,830 | 3,968 | 1,802 |
Grade shown per index band (88–100 = A … 0–29 = F). Rates are reported offenses per 100,000 residents.
Washington is high risk — take action
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Neighborhood breakdown
Washington crime varies sharply by neighborhood — see the local breakdown.
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Security guides for Washington
How Much Does a Security Guard Cost? (2026 US Pricing Guide)
Unarmed guards typically run $20–$35 an hour and armed guards $35–$75 — but the number on your quote is built from local wages, insurance, and coverage hours, and it varies by 50% across states. Here's how security pricing actually works in 2026, state by state, and how to avoid overpaying.
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How to Hire a Security Guard Company: A Step-by-Step Guide (2026)
Hiring security is easy to get wrong — the cheapest bid is often the riskiest. This step-by-step guide walks you through vetting a licensed company the right way, from license checks and state-by-state training standards to the questions that separate pros from pretenders.
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How to Verify a Security Company's License (State-by-State, 2026)
There is no federal security license in the US — every state runs its own registry, and a legitimate company must be in it. Here's exactly how to check, with a state-by-state table of licensing agencies, credentials, insurance minimums, and official lookups.
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Armed vs. Unarmed Security Guards: Which Do You Need? (2026)
Armed guards aren't automatically 'better' — they cost more, carry more liability, and are the wrong call for most sites. Here's how to match the guard to the real threat, with national cost figures, a state-by-state firearm-permit table, and the insurance gaps to watch.
Read guideNo area has zero risk
A high Crime Index score means lower reported crime relative to other US cities — it is not a guarantee of safety. Reported crime is not the same as actual crime. Research on the gap between crime that occurs and crime that gets reported to police — often called the "dark figure" of crime — estimates that roughly 40% of violent crime and about a third of property crime go unreported each year. Every index built on official statistics, including this one, necessarily undercounts real crime. That gap is exactly why homicide — the offense with the smallest dark figure — anchors the calculation instead of a more commonly reported but less reliable category like theft.
Scores on this page reflect FBI-reported data for 2025. See the full methodology →