Washington: The Best and Worst Cities for Crime

Washington has the highest property crime rates in the nation, with hotspots in Tacoma, Fife, and Burlington.
Derek Prall
July 24, 2024 Derek Prall Derek Prall , Home Security Expert | July 24, 2024
Statewide Crime Property Crime Violent Crime

While Washington state’s violent crime rate is fairly typical, it has the highest rate of property crime in the nation.

Tacoma and Fife have the highest rates of violent crime in the state. Tacoma is located south of Seattle and is about one-third its size. Issues such as social unrest, unemployment and substance abuse are some of the underlying causes of violent crime in the area. Fife is a suburb of Tacoma, so many of the factors driving crime there overflow past its city limits and into Fife.

Tukwila has an extraordinarily high rate of property crime. This city is located in a primarily industrial area between Tacoma and Seattle, and it has a high crime rate relative to the number of residents who live there full-time.

washington-city-mapOn the other end of the spectrum, Colville had the lowest property crime rate in the state. This small town is surrounded by mountains and forests and is home to just 5,000 people. It's located more than 300 miles from Seattle, closer to the state’s eastern border with Idaho.

Snoqualmie, located about 28 miles from Seattle, had the state’s lowest violent crime rate. The city is named after the Snoqualmie Indigenous people and has very high median income and property values.

Statewide Crime Trends in Washington

Washington's population has been growing steadily since 2000, increasing by 15.5 percent from 2010 to 2022.

Although violent crime in Washington state is relatively average for the U.S., it is climbing steadily and closing in on the national violent crime rate.

With the state’s property crime levels already the highest in the nation, increasing violent crime in Washington could make it one of the least-safe states.

Property Crime in Washington

Because of the state’s high property crime rate, it is vital for those moving to Washington to look into the most effective personal and home security solutions for their budget. For every 100,000 residents, there were 3,356 property crimes in Washington — the highest rate in the country and 72 percent higher than the national average.

washington-property crime rates

Violent Crime in Washington

For every 100,000 residents in Washington, there were 376 violent crimes reported in the most recent year for which FBI crime data is available. That puts Washington 23rd for violent crime and 1 percent below the national average.

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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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