Nebraska: The Best and Worst Cities for Crime

High violent crime rate complicates Valentine, Nebraska’s love story.
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Derek Prall
July 24, 2024 Derek Prall Derek Prall , Home Security Expert | July 24, 2024
Statewide Crime Trends in Nebraska Property Crime in Nebraska Violent Crime in Nebraska

Nicknamed “America’s Heart City,” Valentine, Nebraska, sees an annual influx of thousands of cards and letters sent to the city’s post office, where they’re stamped with a unique design that changes every year before being sent on to their final destination with a sweet postmark.

But while Valentine is famous for its holiday connection, it also holds another, much less heartwarming distinction — Valentine has the highest violent crime rate in Nebraska, outpacing larger communities like Omaha and Lincoln.

Of course, it’s unclear whether Valentine is home to an unusually high number of crimes of passion or is simply a victim of its relatively low population (only about 2,600 people live there).

Nebraska City Map

Schuyler, Nebraska, a city of around 6,000 residents, had the lowest property and violent crime rates in the state. The quiet town has been home to a community of Benedictine monks since the 1930s and is located about 75 miles west of Omaha.

Property Crime in Nebraska

When determining property crime rates in Nebraska, we looked at larceny-theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft incidents.

  • Nebraska’s total property crime rate per 100,000 people is 1,889, which is slightly under the overall U.S. rate of 1,954 per 100,000.
  • Nebraska ranks 23rd among all states for property crime but has the fourth-highest rate in the Midwest.
  • Larceny continues to be the most common property crime in Nebraska, as it is everywhere else in the country, with about 1,431 incidents per 100,000 people.

Nebraska Property Crime Rates

Violent Crime in Nebraska

Violent crimes include murder/non-negligent homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery, and they are much less common than property crimes.

  • Nebraska’s overall violent crime rate is 283 per 100,000, more than 26 percent lower than the overall U.S. rate.
  • Nebraska ranks 32nd among all states for violent crimes and has the third-lowest violent crime rate in its region.
  • Aggravated assault is the most common type of violent crime in Nebraska, and the state ranks fourth in the Midwest for its rape rate.

Nebraska Violent Crime Rates

Our data

Our data comes from comprehensive reporting compiled by the FBI and accessed via the Crime Data Explorer website. Property and violent crime state figures were drawn from Table 5 of the 2022 Crime in the U.S. Report. Metropolitan figures were found in Table 6, Crime in the U.S. by Metropolitan Statistical Area. City-level figures were drawn from Table 8, Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City. The population figures in that table are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2020.

Limitations: According to the FBI, the data in the publication tables may differ from those released on the Explorer Pages of the CDE. These variations are due to the difference in methodologies between the publication tables and data displayed on the CDE. Please note that crime statistics are not the sole measure of a city’s safety.

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