Is Columbia, MO Safe? 2026 Crime Rates & Safety Report
Key facts
- 01
Columbia, Missouri reported 1,546.38 larceny-theft offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 1.40 times the national reference of 1,106.97 per 100,000 and 439.41 per 100,000 above that reference, with 1,967 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 02
Columbia, Missouri reported 33.80 robbery offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 0.70 times the national reference of 48.24 per 100,000 and 14.44 per 100,000 below that reference, with 43 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 03
Columbia, Missouri reported 297.96 aggravated assault offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 1.30 times the national reference of 229.56 per 100,000 and 68.40 per 100,000 above that reference, with 379 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 04
Columbia, Missouri reported 220.13 burglary offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 1.17 times the national reference of 188.15 per 100,000 and 31.98 per 100,000 above that reference, with 280 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 05
Columbia, Missouri reported 183.18 motor vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 0.95 times the national reference of 193.00 per 100,000 and 9.82 per 100,000 below that reference, with 233 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
Quick answer
In the Safety Atlas 2026 public safety index, Columbia, MO has an adjusted safety score of 42.55 out of 100. It ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in Missouri. Its overall crime trajectory is currently classified as decreasing.
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Data, definitions and reuse
Violent: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault. Property: burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, arson. Subcategories are excluded to avoid double counting. Counts are offenses reported to police in this jurisdiction, not rates, neighborhood scores or a census of all crime.
| Month | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 189 |
| Feb | 21 | 171 |
| Mar | 21 | 219 |
| Apr | 55 | 200 |
| May | 63 | 242 |
| Jun | 44 | 230 |
| Jul | 40 | 224 |
| Aug | 37 | 197 |
| Sep | 59 | 224 |
| Oct | 32 | 226 |
| Nov | 39 | 166 |
| Dec | 27 | 207 |
Reuse under CC BY 4.0; indicate changes. The downloaded image carries our name, licence and source in its metadata. Embed code:
<img src="https://www.safetyatlas.us/img/charts/columbia-mo-crime-trend-2025.webp" alt="Chart of Columbia, MO crime statistics: Columbia reported 474 violent offenses in 2025, 3.5% more than in 2024. Shows annual violent offense bars." width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%;height:auto">
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.safetyatlas.us/safety/mo/columbia">Safety Atlas, Columbia, MO</a>. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>
2026 edition, FBI source year 2025.
Columbia in 7 numbers
- Burglary fell 36%. 280 reports in 2025 vs 438 in 2024 (−36%), the largest year-over-year move of any indicator offense.
- Almost half of all reports are property crime. 3,312 of 7,168 reports (46.2%); larceny-theft alone is 1,967 (27.4%).
- Clearances skew toward violent crime. 100% of homicides cleared vs 20.1% of larcenies and 20.4% of burglaries (2025, reports cleared ÷ reports received).
- Aggravated Assault moved the other way. Up 11% (379 vs 341), with September (50) running 3.6× March (14).
- Burglary is volatile but down. Monthly counts swung 3.4× (Jun 37 vs Feb 11); the year finished 36% below 2024.
- The biggest volume isn’t violent. Simple assault (1,685) and vandalism (796) dwarf the whole personal-safety total (538, 7.5% of reports).
- Small months, big bars. December’s 13 burglaries vs June’s 37 is a gap of 24 reports, monthly charts amplify small-number swings. Read the 12-month direction, not one bar.
Takeaways are computed from FBI CDE reported counts (source year 2025, MO0100200). They describe reported data, not forecasts; check the methodology and coverage notes before reuse.
Every number on this page ships in the Missouri workbook.
Key Public Safety Indicators
Reported rates per 100,000 residents; national references shown alongside.
| Offense Class | Annual Count | Rate per 100K | National Avg | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbery | 43 | 33.8 | 48.24 | 0.7× national |
| Aggravated Assault | 379 | 297.96 | 229.56 |
1.3× national |
| Burglary | 280 | 220.13 | 188.15 |
1.17× national |
| Larceny-theft | 1967 | 1546.38 | 1106.97 |
1.4× national |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 233 | 183.18 | 193.0 | 0.95× national |
Columbia monthly trend: reported counts through December 2025
Annual totals hide timing. The bars below show 2025 reported counts per month for the three highest-relative indicator offenses; each table carries the same numbers with FBI pre-computed rates. The full 19-offense monthly series (2020-2025) is downloadable below.
Larceny-theft, month by month
→ Stable, 1967 reports vs 2108 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 142 | 107.52 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 138 | 104.49 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 165 | 124.93 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 167 | 126.45 | Full |
| May 2025 | 184 | 139.32 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 161 | 121.9 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 174 | 131.75 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 168 | 127.2 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 169 | 127.96 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 185 | 140.08 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 141 | 106.76 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 173 | 130.99 | Full |
Aggravated Assault, month by month
↑ Increasing, 379 reports vs 341 in 2024 (up 11% in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 27 | 20.44 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 18 | 13.63 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 14 | 10.6 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 49 | 37.1 | Full |
| May 2025 | 48 | 36.34 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 30 | 22.71 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 32 | 24.23 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 32 | 24.23 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 50 | 37.86 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 27 | 20.44 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 29 | 21.96 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 23 | 17.41 | Full |
Burglary, month by month
↓ Decreasing, 280 reports vs 438 in 2024 (down 36% in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 32 | 24.23 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 11 | 8.33 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 28 | 21.2 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 20 | 15.14 | Full |
| May 2025 | 30 | 22.71 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 37 | 28.02 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 19 | 14.39 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 14 | 10.6 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 33 | 24.99 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 23 | 17.41 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 20 | 15.14 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 13 | 9.84 | Full |
Clearances: what got cleared in 2025
100% of homicides cleared vs 20% of larcenies, clearance follows violent crime, not volume.
| Offense | Reported | Cleared | Clearance rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 4 | 4 | 100.0% |
| Aggravated Assault | 379 | 228 | 60.2% |
| Robbery | 43 | 26 | 60.5% |
| Burglary | 280 | 57 | 20.4% |
| Larceny-theft | 1,967 | 396 | 20.1% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 233 | 54 | 23.2% |
Clearances ÷ reports received; clearances may concern earlier reports, so this is not a solve rate.
Monthly counts and FBI pre-computed rates per 100,000, FBI CDE source year 2025, MO0100200. Rates use FBI month-specific covered-population denominators and are shown as published, not recomputed. A hyphen (-) means not reported, not zero. Annual totals equal the sum of shown months within ±2% (see manifest).
Downloads: Columbia monthly series (JSON) · same data (CSV) · build manifest
Comparing Columbia to somewhere else? Take the file with you.
What drives Columbia's safety score?
Columbia ranks in the middle half of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in Missouri, ahead of approximately 67% of that scored set. The profile uses a reporting population of 127,200 and source-year data through 2025; it is a citywide agency-level comparison, not a neighborhood forecast.
The strongest of the three score components is Personal Safety at 51.56, while Property Security is lowest at 27.01. The 24.55-point spread shows why the composite should be read by component instead of as a single absolute claim about safety.
Among the five public offense indicators, Larceny-theft is highest relative to its national reference at 1546.38 per 100,000 (1.4× the national rate). Robbery is lowest on the same relative basis at 33.8 per 100,000 (0.7× national).
Coverage check: 18 of 18 tracked offense classes have reportable values in this profile. Missing values are not converted to zero.
Public indicator mix
Columbia, Missouri recorded 1,967 larceny-theft offenses in 2025, 67.8% of the 2,902 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 43 robbery reports (1.5%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Columbia, Missouri recorded 379 aggravated assault offenses in 2025, 13.1% of the 2,902 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 43 robbery reports (1.5%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Columbia, Missouri recorded 280 burglary offenses in 2025, 9.6% of the 2,902 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 43 robbery reports (1.5%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Columbia, Missouri uses a reporting population of 127,200 residents and has values for 18 of the 18 tracked offense classes (100.0%) in its 2025 profile; coverage describes available classes rather than the share of residents reporting crime.
Columbia, Missouri has an adjusted score of 42.55 points out of 100 versus 63.7 in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a difference of 21.15 points below that displayed state peer in the 2025 source-year profile; Columbia ranks 2 of 6 scored jurisdictions in the published state comparison set.
Columbia, Missouri has an adjusted score of 42.55 points out of 100 versus 29.94 in Independence, Missouri, a difference of 12.61 points above that displayed state peer in the 2025 source-year profile; Columbia ranks 2 of 6 scored jurisdictions in the published state comparison set.
Detailed Crime Class Breakdown
Additional tracked offense classes
- Homicide
- Rape
- Kidnapping/Abduction
- Human Trafficking
- Arson
- Theft From Building
- Theft From Motor Vehicle
- Simple Assault
- Intimidation
- Stolen Property Offenses
- Vandalism
- Weapon Law Violations
- Drug/Narcotic Violations
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Columbia safe compared to other places in Missouri?
Columbia is classified as having low relative safety in the 2026 Safety Atlas Index. It has an adjusted safety score of 42.55 out of 100 and ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in Missouri.
What is the crime rate in Columbia?
Public offense rates are listed above.
What is Columbia's safety rating?
Columbia's safety rating in the 2026 Safety Atlas Index is 42.55 out of 100, which ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in Missouri. Its overall crime trajectory is currently classified as decreasing, using source-year data through 2025.
What is the safest neighborhood in Columbia?
This profile covers the reporting jurisdiction; consult local sources for neighborhood detail.
Why are some crime statistics locked for Columbia?
Full offense series: state workbook.
How fresh is the monthly crime data on this page?
Monthly figures track FBI CDE source year 2025, the same vintage as the annual table above. A new FBI release typically lags several months; the caption stamps the source year and export date. Values can revise when the FBI re-publishes. Full monthly series for Columbia are downloadable as JSON and CSV.
Why does the monthly chart move so much?
Monthly counts are small numbers, a difference of a few reports swings the bar. Reporting practice, staffing, and seasonal patterns all move single months. Read the 12-month direction in the trajectory line, not one bar. This profile measures the reporting jurisdiction only; it cannot rank neighborhoods within Columbia.
What does the clearance rate on this page mean?
It divides 2025 reports cleared by 2025 reports received for that offense, including clearances of earlier reports, so it is a workload snapshot, not a guarantee a given case is solved. In Columbia, violent offenses clear at far higher rates than property offenses (homicide 100%, larceny-theft 20.1%). Monthly clearance detail is not published yet.
Reading notes
Safety Atlas methodology · 2026 coverage report
Cite This Public Safety Profile
Citation formats:
Primary Source Data Integrity
- Crime Counts: FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) database.
- Demographics: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimate boundaries.
- Methodology: Adjusted per-capita normalization with small-sample relief controls. View our complete Methodology Documentation.