Is Durham, NC Safe? 2026 Crime Rates & Safety Report
Key facts
- 01
Durham, North Carolina reported 153.57 robbery offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 3.18 times the national reference of 48.24 per 100,000 and 105.33 per 100,000 above that reference, with 443 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 02
Durham, North Carolina reported 559.86 motor vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 2.90 times the national reference of 193.00 per 100,000 and 366.86 per 100,000 above that reference, with 1,615 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 03
Durham, North Carolina reported 2,823.22 larceny-theft offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 2.55 times the national reference of 1,106.97 per 100,000 and 1,716.25 per 100,000 above that reference, with 8,144 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 04
Durham, North Carolina reported 433.67 burglary offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 2.30 times the national reference of 188.15 per 100,000 and 245.52 per 100,000 above that reference, with 1,251 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
- 05
Durham, North Carolina reported 318.93 aggravated assault offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, 1.39 times the national reference of 229.56 per 100,000 and 89.37 per 100,000 above that reference, with 920 annual reported offenses (FBI CDE 2025 profile).
Quick answer
In the Safety Atlas 2026 public safety index, Durham, NC has an adjusted safety score of 28.57 out of 100. It ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in North Carolina. Its overall crime trajectory is currently classified as stable.
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2026 edition, FBI source year 2025.
Durham in 7 numbers
- Motor vehicle theft fell 14%. 1,615 reports in 2025 vs 1,870 in 2024 (−14%), the largest year-over-year move of any indicator offense.
- More than half of all reports are property crime. 14,851 of 23,446 reports (63.3%); larceny-theft alone is 8,144 (34.7%).
- Clearances skew toward violent crime. 69.7% of homicides cleared vs 7% of motor vehicle thefts and 10.3% of larcenies (2025, reports cleared ÷ reports received).
- A second look at motor vehicle theft. May (181) ran 1.8× November (103); the year finished down 14%.
- Robbery is volatile but stable. Monthly counts swung 2.2× (May 49 vs Feb 22); the year finished about level with 2024.
- The biggest volume isn’t violent. Theft From Motor Vehicle (3,212) and simple assault (2,476) dwarf the whole personal-safety total (1,632, 7.0% of reports).
- Small months, big bars. December’s 46 robberies vs May’s 49 is a gap of 3 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, NC0320100). They describe reported data, not forecasts; check the methodology and coverage notes before reuse.
Every number on this page ships in the North Carolina 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 | 443 | 153.57 | 48.24 |
3.18× national |
| Aggravated Assault | 920 | 318.93 | 229.56 |
1.39× national |
| Burglary | 1251 | 433.67 | 188.15 |
2.3× national |
| Larceny-theft | 8144 | 2823.22 | 1106.97 |
2.55× national |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 1615 | 559.86 | 193.0 |
2.9× national |
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 | 125 | 896 |
| Feb | 106 | 721 |
| Mar | 127 | 908 |
| Apr | 118 | 826 |
| May | 174 | 978 |
| Jun | 133 | 870 |
| Jul | 124 | 1052 |
| Aug | 147 | 1066 |
| Sep | 129 | 929 |
| Oct | 131 | 999 |
| Nov | 128 | 886 |
| Dec | 115 | 921 |
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/durham-nc-crime-trend-2025.webp" alt="Chart of Durham, NC crime statistics: Durham reported 1,557 violent offenses in 2025, 16.5% fewer than in 2024. Shows monthly violent offense differences versus 2024." width="1200" height="675" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%;height:auto">
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.safetyatlas.us/safety/nc/durham">Safety Atlas, Durham, NC</a>. <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>
Durham 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.
Robbery, month by month
→ Stable, 443 reports vs 483 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 48 | 15.63 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 22 | 7.16 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 33 | 10.74 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 32 | 10.42 | Full |
| May 2025 | 49 | 15.95 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 26 | 8.47 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 29 | 9.44 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 48 | 15.63 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 42 | 13.67 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 33 | 10.74 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 35 | 11.4 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 46 | 14.98 | Full |
Motor Vehicle Theft, month by month
↓ Decreasing, 1615 reports vs 1870 in 2024 (down 14% in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 156 | 50.79 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 117 | 38.09 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 149 | 48.51 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 133 | 43.3 | Full |
| May 2025 | 181 | 58.93 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 117 | 38.09 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 137 | 44.61 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 156 | 50.79 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 104 | 33.86 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 131 | 42.65 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 103 | 33.54 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 131 | 42.65 | Full |
Larceny-theft, month by month
→ Stable, 8144 reports vs 8188 in 2024 (about level in reported data).
| Month | Count | Rate per 100K | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | 651 | 211.96 | Full |
| Feb 2025 | 515 | 167.68 | Full |
| Mar 2025 | 642 | 209.03 | Full |
| Apr 2025 | 580 | 188.84 | Full |
| May 2025 | 701 | 228.23 | Full |
| Jun 2025 | 654 | 212.93 | Full |
| Jul 2025 | 800 | 260.47 | Full |
| Aug 2025 | 789 | 256.89 | Full |
| Sep 2025 | 700 | 227.91 | Full |
| Oct 2025 | 746 | 242.89 | Full |
| Nov 2025 | 682 | 222.05 | Full |
| Dec 2025 | 684 | 222.7 | Full |
Clearances: what got cleared in 2025
70% of homicides cleared vs 7% of motor vehicle thefts, clearance follows violent crime, not volume.
| Offense | Reported | Cleared | Clearance rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 33 | 23 | 69.7% |
| Aggravated Assault | 920 | 283 | 30.8% |
| Robbery | 443 | 119 | 26.9% |
| Burglary | 1,251 | 219 | 17.5% |
| Larceny-theft | 8,144 | 837 | 10.3% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 1,615 | 113 | 7.0% |
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, NC0320100. 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: Durham monthly series (JSON) · same data (CSV) · build manifest
Comparing Durham to somewhere else? Take the file with you.
What drives Durham's safety score?
Durham ranks in the middle half of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in North Carolina, ahead of approximately 67% of that scored set. The profile uses a reporting population of 288,465 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 Community Order at 41.06, while Property Security is lowest at 19.0. The 22.06-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, Robbery is highest relative to its national reference at 153.57 per 100,000 (3.18× the national rate). Aggravated Assault is lowest on the same relative basis at 318.93 per 100,000 (1.39× 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
Durham, North Carolina recorded 8,144 larceny-theft offenses in 2025, 65.8% of the 12,373 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 443 robbery reports (3.6%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Durham, North Carolina recorded 1,615 motor vehicle theft offenses in 2025, 13.1% of the 12,373 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 443 robbery reports (3.6%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Durham, North Carolina recorded 1,251 burglary offenses in 2025, 10.1% of the 12,373 reports across its five public indicators, compared with 443 robbery reports (3.6%); this share covers only those five indicators, excluding other offense classes.
Durham, North Carolina uses a reporting population of 288,465 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.
Durham, North Carolina has an adjusted score of 28.57 points out of 100 versus 33.91 in Raleigh, North Carolina, a difference of 5.34 points below that displayed state peer in the 2025 source-year profile; Durham ranks 2 of 6 scored jurisdictions in the published state comparison set.
Durham, North Carolina has an adjusted score of 28.57 points out of 100 versus 23.34 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a difference of 5.23 points above that displayed state peer in the 2025 source-year profile; Durham 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 Durham safe compared to other places in North Carolina?
Durham is classified as having low relative safety in the 2026 Safety Atlas Index. It has an adjusted safety score of 28.57 out of 100 and ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in North Carolina.
What is the crime rate in Durham?
Public offense rates are listed above.
What is Durham's safety rating?
Durham's safety rating in the 2026 Safety Atlas Index is 28.57 out of 100, which ranks #2 in this comparison set out of the 6 jurisdictions in the current scored comparison set in North Carolina. Its overall crime trajectory is currently classified as stable, using source-year data through 2025.
What is the safest neighborhood in Durham?
This profile covers the reporting jurisdiction; consult local sources for neighborhood detail.
Why are some crime statistics locked for Durham?
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 Durham 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 Durham.
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 Durham, violent offenses clear at far higher rates than property offenses (homicide 70%, motor vehicle theft 7%). Monthly clearance detail is not published yet.
Reading notes
North Carolina safety directory
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.