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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.

District of Columbia · 806.0 per 100,000Maine · 95.0 per 100,000

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
Every jurisdiction by reported violent crime rate, highest first, with Tennessee marked
RankNameReported violent crime rate
1District of Columbia806.0 per 100,000
2Alaska736.1 per 100,000
3New Mexico648.0 per 100,000
4Arkansas535.3 per 100,000
5Tennessee498.8 per 100,000
6Kansas475.7 per 100,000
7Louisiana465.1 per 100,000
8Colorado438.2 per 100,000
9California434.8 per 100,000
10Michigan430.9 per 100,000
11Missouri425.6 per 100,000
12Montana422.0 per 100,000
13Oklahoma411.6 per 100,000
14South Carolina389.3 per 100,000
15Nevada383.8 per 100,000
16Arizona382.9 per 100,000
17New York368.0 per 100,000
18Maryland365.0 per 100,000
19Alabama352.8 per 100,000
20Delaware351.9 per 100,000
21Texas348.9 per 100,000
22North Carolina330.6 per 100,000
23South Dakota327.2 per 100,000
24Oregon319.1 per 100,000
25Georgia301.3 per 100,000
26Massachusetts301.0 per 100,000
27Indiana300.4 per 100,000
28Washington291.7 per 100,000
29Ohio287.9 per 100,000
30West Virginia265.6 per 100,000
31Illinois257.6 per 100,000
32Florida248.3 per 100,000
33Wisconsin244.5 per 100,000
34North Dakota240.2 per 100,000
35Iowa238.2 per 100,000
36Pennsylvania229.2 per 100,000
37Minnesota226.0 per 100,000
38Utah224.8 per 100,000
39Mississippi224.2 per 100,000
40Nebraska222.7 per 100,000
41Idaho221.3 per 100,000
42Vermont220.0 per 100,000
43Kentucky214.3 per 100,000
44Hawaii213.7 per 100,000
45Virginia210.4 per 100,000
46New Jersey198.5 per 100,000
47Wyoming187.5 per 100,000
48Rhode Island145.8 per 100,000
49New Hampshire119.2 per 100,000
50Connecticut111.1 per 100,000
51Maine95.0 per 100,000

By offense

3 more columns on a wider screen

Reported offenses in Tennessee by type, 2025
OffenseRateRank
Aggravated assault413.65 of 51
Arson10.320 of 51
Burglary207.019 of 51
Homicide6.67 of 51
Larceny1,215.019 of 51
Motor vehicle theft229.013 of 51
Rape36.627 of 51
Robbery42.016 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

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.
YearTennesseeUnited StatesPopulation coveredMonths
1985523.2570.386.2%12
1986613.8633.682.5%12
1987607.3624.982.3%12
1988608.4630.282.2%12
1989628.5680.581.0%12
1990796.4749.877.7%12
1991867.5798.175.5%12
1992910.8785.474.6%12
1993908.5764.177.0%12
1994906.0740.473.4%12
1995927.3720.673.8%12
1996982.4658.868.8%12
1997926.1644.972.4%12
1998699.0603.892.3%12
1999727.4545.892.8%12
2000710.7534.499.5%12
2001746.0529.599.8%12
2002718.5512.999.9%12
2003691.2493.8100.0%12
2004696.4478.6100.0%12
2005755.4483.099.9%12
2006762.4486.999.9%12
2007754.5477.9100.0%12
2008721.2463.6100.0%12
2009666.0436.8100.0%12
2010612.9408.1100.0%12
2011607.9390.1100.0%12
2012637.3390.7100.0%12
2013583.3378.2100.0%12
2014608.4373.7100.0%12
2015618.5384.6100.0%12
2016641.7399.5100.0%12
2017655.6397.5100.0%12
2018632.8384.8100.0%12
2019605.7381.0100.0%12
2020682.3399.3100.0%12
2021676.1360.999.6%12
2022639.2398.299.7%12
2023646.4385.699.7%12
2024604.4363.499.6%12
2025498.8329.399.6%12
2026not reportednot reported97.6%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

States either side of Tennessee in the violent crime ranking, 2025
RankStateViolent rate
1District of Columbia806.0
2Alaska736.1
3New Mexico648.0
4Arkansas535.3
5Tennessee498.8
6Kansas475.7
7Louisiana465.1
8Colorado438.2
9California434.8
10Michigan430.9
11Missouri425.6

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.

Compare two states

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

Compiled automatically from FBI Crime Data Explorer API by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built

Data retrieved