Is Knoxville, TN Safe?
Knoxville, TN has a Safety Score of 68/100 (grade B). Violent crime is 8% below the national average. Crime has been trending downward over the past 5 years.
Safety Context Score: 68/100 (Grade B)
CrimeContext scores Knoxville on a 0-100 scale that weights per-capita violent crime against the national average (40%), per-capita property crime (30%), and the 5-year direction of total crime (30%). A grade of B means Knoxville sits roughly in line with the typical U.S. city once population is taken into account. Crime has been trending downward over the past 5 years.
We never display raw crime counts. A large city will always log more total incidents than a small town; the only fair comparison is the rate per 100,000 residents, which is what every number on this page uses.
Knoxville Crime Rates per 100,000 vs National Average
| Crime Type | Knoxville | National Avg | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 333.5 | 363.8 | -8% |
| Property Crime | 2106.2 | 1832.3 | +15% |
| Murder | 3.3 | 5.7 | -42% |
| Robbery | 53.4 | 73.0 | -27% |
| Aggravated Assault | 203.4 | 246.4 | -17% |
| Burglary | 273.8 | 269.8 | +1% |
| Larceny-Theft | 1495.4 | 1401.9 | +7% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 189.6 | 318.3 | -40% |
| 5-Year Trend | -9.0% | ||
| Population | 190,740 | ||
All values are incidents per 100,000 residents (FBI UCR/NIBRS). Per-capita rates only — never raw counts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Knoxville, TN has a Safety Score of 68/100 (grade B). Violent crime is 8% below the national average. Crime has been trending downward over the past 5 years.
Knoxville, TN has a violent crime rate of 333.5 per 100,000 residents (8% below the U.S. average of 363.8) and a property crime rate of 2106.2 per 100,000 (15% above the U.S. average of 1832.3). All figures are per-capita rates, never raw counts.
Knoxville has a murder rate of 3.3 per 100,000 residents, compared with the national average of 5.7. Like every figure here, this is a per-capita rate — raw homicide counts without population context can badly mislead.
Crime has been trending downward over the past 5 years. Over the past 5 years, the total crime rate in Knoxville has changed by -9.0%.
Violent crime in Knoxville is 8% below the U.S. average and property crime is 15% above average. Knoxville's overall Safety Context Score is 68/100 (grade B).
More about Knoxville
Knoxville, TN has a Safety Score of 68/100 (grade B). Violent crime is 8% below the national average. Crime has been trending downward over the past 5 years.
This answer pulls from the FBI UCR/NIBRS dataset, the authoritative federal source for U.S. city and county crime rates. The headline number above is the direct answer; what follows is the additional context most readers need to use the answer for a real decision rather than just a fact lookup.
A practical caveat: the headline answer above reflects the most recent the FBI UCR/NIBRS dataset vintage; underlying data is often revised for months after first publication, and the right reference for any specific decision is whichever vintage is current at the time of the decision. The as-of date is stamped on every page.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, 2026.