Record · State
Crime in Tennessee
Law enforcement agencies in Tennessee reported 498.8 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, against a national rate of 329.3, in 2025, according to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.
That is rank 5 of 51.
2025 at a glance
- 498.8
- Violent crime rate
- Per 100,000 residents. National rate 329.3.
- 1,661.3
- Property crime rate
- Per 100,000 residents. National rate 1,552.1.
- 6.6
- Homicide rate
- Per 100,000 residents, from 483 reported offenses.
- 7,285,816
- Population covered
- The FBI’s estimate for the agencies that reported. This is the rate denominator.
- 99.6%
- Share of the population
- Of the state’s population living in a reporting agency’s jurisdiction.
- 410 of 412
- Agencies reporting to NIBRS
- Agencies submitting incident-based data, of those the FBI lists in the state.
Figures are for calendar year 2025, taken from the FBI Crime Data Explorer on September 19, 2026.
Tennessee is 5 of 51 by reported violent crime rate, at 498.8 per 100,000. Highest on the left.
The 51 figures behind this strip
| Rank | Name | Reported violent crime rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 806.0 per 100,000 |
| 2 | Alaska | 736.1 per 100,000 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 648.0 per 100,000 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 535.3 per 100,000 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 498.8 per 100,000 |
| 6 | Kansas | 475.7 per 100,000 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 465.1 per 100,000 |
| 8 | Colorado | 438.2 per 100,000 |
| 9 | California | 434.8 per 100,000 |
| 10 | Michigan | 430.9 per 100,000 |
| 11 | Missouri | 425.6 per 100,000 |
| 12 | Montana | 422.0 per 100,000 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 411.6 per 100,000 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 389.3 per 100,000 |
| 15 | Nevada | 383.8 per 100,000 |
| 16 | Arizona | 382.9 per 100,000 |
| 17 | New York | 368.0 per 100,000 |
| 18 | Maryland | 365.0 per 100,000 |
| 19 | Alabama | 352.8 per 100,000 |
| 20 | Delaware | 351.9 per 100,000 |
| 21 | Texas | 348.9 per 100,000 |
| 22 | North Carolina | 330.6 per 100,000 |
| 23 | South Dakota | 327.2 per 100,000 |
| 24 | Oregon | 319.1 per 100,000 |
| 25 | Georgia | 301.3 per 100,000 |
| 26 | Massachusetts | 301.0 per 100,000 |
| 27 | Indiana | 300.4 per 100,000 |
| 28 | Washington | 291.7 per 100,000 |
| 29 | Ohio | 287.9 per 100,000 |
| 30 | West Virginia | 265.6 per 100,000 |
| 31 | Illinois | 257.6 per 100,000 |
| 32 | Florida | 248.3 per 100,000 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | 244.5 per 100,000 |
| 34 | North Dakota | 240.2 per 100,000 |
| 35 | Iowa | 238.2 per 100,000 |
| 36 | Pennsylvania | 229.2 per 100,000 |
| 37 | Minnesota | 226.0 per 100,000 |
| 38 | Utah | 224.8 per 100,000 |
| 39 | Mississippi | 224.2 per 100,000 |
| 40 | Nebraska | 222.7 per 100,000 |
| 41 | Idaho | 221.3 per 100,000 |
| 42 | Vermont | 220.0 per 100,000 |
| 43 | Kentucky | 214.3 per 100,000 |
| 44 | Hawaii | 213.7 per 100,000 |
| 45 | Virginia | 210.4 per 100,000 |
| 46 | New Jersey | 198.5 per 100,000 |
| 47 | Wyoming | 187.5 per 100,000 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 145.8 per 100,000 |
| 49 | New Hampshire | 119.2 per 100,000 |
| 50 | Connecticut | 111.1 per 100,000 |
| 51 | Maine | 95.0 per 100,000 |
By offense
3 more columns on a wider screen
| Offense | Rate | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Aggravated assault | 413.6 | 5 of 51 |
| Arson | 10.3 | 20 of 51 |
| Burglary | 207.0 | 19 of 51 |
| Homicide | 6.6 | 7 of 51 |
| Larceny | 1,215.0 | 19 of 51 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 229.0 | 13 of 51 |
| Rape | 36.6 | 27 of 51 |
| Robbery | 42.0 | 16 of 51 |
These are the component offenses. They are part of the violent crime and property crime categories above, not additional to them, and we do not add them together to build those categories: which offense rolls up into which is the FBI’s definition. A cleared offense is one the FBI records as closed by arrest or by exceptional means. It is not a conviction.
Reported crime in Tennessee since 1985
Tennessee's reported violent crime rate is 49.2% below its 1996 peak
Violent offenses reported per 100,000 residents in Tennessee, against the national rate for the same years. Only years with all twelve months are drawn.
The peak was 982.4 per 100,000 in 1996; 2025 was 498.8.
Coverage moves from year to year as agencies join and leave the program, so part of a change in Tennessee's line can be a change in who reported. The figure is in the table.
Source: The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer
About this chart
The figures
| Year | Tennessee | United States | Population covered | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 523.2 | 570.3 | 86.2% | 12 |
| 1986 | 613.8 | 633.6 | 82.5% | 12 |
| 1987 | 607.3 | 624.9 | 82.3% | 12 |
| 1988 | 608.4 | 630.2 | 82.2% | 12 |
| 1989 | 628.5 | 680.5 | 81.0% | 12 |
| 1990 | 796.4 | 749.8 | 77.7% | 12 |
| 1991 | 867.5 | 798.1 | 75.5% | 12 |
| 1992 | 910.8 | 785.4 | 74.6% | 12 |
| 1993 | 908.5 | 764.1 | 77.0% | 12 |
| 1994 | 906.0 | 740.4 | 73.4% | 12 |
| 1995 | 927.3 | 720.6 | 73.8% | 12 |
| 1996 | 982.4 | 658.8 | 68.8% | 12 |
| 1997 | 926.1 | 644.9 | 72.4% | 12 |
| 1998 | 699.0 | 603.8 | 92.3% | 12 |
| 1999 | 727.4 | 545.8 | 92.8% | 12 |
| 2000 | 710.7 | 534.4 | 99.5% | 12 |
| 2001 | 746.0 | 529.5 | 99.8% | 12 |
| 2002 | 718.5 | 512.9 | 99.9% | 12 |
| 2003 | 691.2 | 493.8 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2004 | 696.4 | 478.6 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2005 | 755.4 | 483.0 | 99.9% | 12 |
| 2006 | 762.4 | 486.9 | 99.9% | 12 |
| 2007 | 754.5 | 477.9 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2008 | 721.2 | 463.6 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2009 | 666.0 | 436.8 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2010 | 612.9 | 408.1 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2011 | 607.9 | 390.1 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2012 | 637.3 | 390.7 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2013 | 583.3 | 378.2 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2014 | 608.4 | 373.7 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2015 | 618.5 | 384.6 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2016 | 641.7 | 399.5 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2017 | 655.6 | 397.5 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2018 | 632.8 | 384.8 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2019 | 605.7 | 381.0 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2020 | 682.3 | 399.3 | 100.0% | 12 |
| 2021 | 676.1 | 360.9 | 99.6% | 12 |
| 2022 | 639.2 | 398.2 | 99.7% | 12 |
| 2023 | 646.4 | 385.6 | 99.7% | 12 |
| 2024 | 604.4 | 363.4 | 99.6% | 12 |
| 2025 | 498.8 | 329.3 | 99.6% | 12 |
| 2026 | not reported | not reported | 97.6% | 9 |
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Nearest rates
The five jurisdictions either side of Tennessee in the violent crime ranking, with Tennessee in bold. At either end of the ranking the window slides rather than shrinking, so first place gets the top eleven rather than the top six.
1 more column on a wider screen
| Rank | State | Violent rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 806.0 |
| 2 | Alaska | 736.1 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 648.0 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 535.3 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 498.8 |
| 6 | Kansas | 475.7 |
| 7 | Louisiana | 465.1 |
| 8 | Colorado | 438.2 |
| 9 | California | 434.8 |
| 10 | Michigan | 430.9 |
| 11 | Missouri | 425.6 |
Tennessee in other topics: federal spending, nonprofits.
Full rankings: violent crime, property crime, and homicide. All states: crime and justice.
Tennessee compared
Side by side with the states it is published against, each with the share of its population that reporting agencies covered.
Tennessee elsewhere on the Factbook
- Most dangerous cities in Tennessee Crime and justice
What each agency serving 25,000 or more reported, ranked. Agency populations overlap, so these do not add up to the state.
- Prison population Crime and justice
People held under the state’s correctional authority, and the imprisonment rate. A different publisher counting a different thing.
- Arrests by race, sex and age Crime and justice
Arrests as the FBI’s participating agencies reported them, with what the figures can and cannot support at the top.
- Hate crime Crime and justice
Incidents reported to the FBI by bias motivation, as counts — the collection publishes no participation share, so there is no rate to compare states on.
- Federal obligations Federal spending
What federal agencies obligated against a place of performance in the state, per resident and by agency.
- Registered nonprofits Nonprofits
How many organizations the IRS lists in the state, what they report as revenue, and which kinds of work they do.
- Payments to doctors Health
What drug and device companies reported paying doctors with a practice address in the state, and the largest recipients.
- Immigration courts Immigration and the border
The EOIR courts sitting in the state, what they completed and still have pending, and how far apart their asylum grant rates are. The courts, not the state’s residents: a detention court hears cases from far outside it.
- Farm program payments Farm subsidies
What the Farm Service Agency paid through the state’s county offices, by program and by recipient. The offices that administered the payments, not a count of farms: a recipient addressed elsewhere is counted where they were paid.
- Paycheck Protection Program loans PPP loans
The PPP loans SBA guaranteed to businesses operating in the state, by county, with how many carry a forgiveness amount and how many were charged off. Loans, not businesses: a business with two draws is two loans.
- Public schools Schools
Pupils, schools and teachers, the largest districts, what districts spend per pupil and where the money comes from, and the colleges that take federal student aid.
- Banks and credit unions Banks and credit unions
The FDIC-insured banks headquartered in the state and their offices, and the credit unions based there and their sites, each per resident and against every other state.
- Housing Housing
The homes under HUD’s rental assistance programs in the state, by program and county, and its tax-credit housing, each per resident and against every other state.
- Mortgage lending Mortgage lending
The mortgage applications, loans and denials lenders reported in the state under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and its largest lenders and counties.
- College athletics Sports
Every college in the state that reported to the Equity in Athletics survey, ranked by its athletics revenue, with its expenses, athletes and athletic aid.
- Federal civilian workforce Federal salaries
Federal civilian employees stationed in the state by agency and occupation, with the pay OPM publishes and the share it withholds.
- The Tennessee Factbook entry Across the Factbook
Every measure the Factbook publishes for this state in one place, each with where it ranks among the others and the record it came from.
The immigration link above is EOIR’s courts, which sit in this state. CBP’s encounters are not by state and will not be: its sectors and field offices are areas of responsibility rather than a geography, and assigning them to states would be a claim the data does not make. Immigration and the border.
What this page cannot show
- Offenses reported to and recorded by police in Tennessee, then submitted to the FBI. Crime not reported to police is not here.
- Reporting is voluntary and coverage differs by year, so a change in a count can be a change in how many agencies submitted.
- Rates use the FBI’s population estimate for the reporting agencies, not the state’s full resident population. Where coverage is below 100%, the rate describes the covered population.
- Nothing here explains why a figure moved. The record is what was reported.
Full method at methodology.
Sources
- FBI Crime Data Explorer API — Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division · Public domain — U.S. Government work · retrieved September 19, 2026
Compiled automatically from FBI Crime Data Explorer API by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built
Data retrieved