Is Lexington, KY Safe?
Lexington, KY has a Safety Score of 60/100 (grade C). Violent crime is 11% below the national average. Crime has been trending upward over the past 5 years.
Safety Context Score: 60/100 (Grade C)
CrimeContext scores Lexington 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 C means Lexington sits roughly in line with the typical U.S. city once population is taken into account. Crime has been trending upward 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.
Lexington Crime Rates per 100,000 vs National Average
| Crime Type | Lexington | National Avg | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 322.8 | 363.8 | -11% |
| Property Crime | 1404.5 | 1832.3 | -23% |
| Murder | 3.2 | 5.7 | -44% |
| Robbery | 58.1 | 73.0 | -20% |
| Aggravated Assault | 187.2 | 246.4 | -24% |
| Burglary | 210.7 | 269.8 | -22% |
| Larceny-Theft | 955.1 | 1401.9 | -32% |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 154.5 | 318.3 | -51% |
| 5-Year Trend | +8.0% | ||
| Population | 322,570 | ||
All values are incidents per 100,000 residents (FBI UCR/NIBRS). Per-capita rates only — never raw counts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lexington, KY has a Safety Score of 60/100 (grade C). Violent crime is 11% below the national average. Crime has been trending upward over the past 5 years.
Lexington, KY has a violent crime rate of 322.8 per 100,000 residents (11% below the U.S. average of 363.8) and a property crime rate of 1404.5 per 100,000 (23% below the U.S. average of 1832.3). All figures are per-capita rates, never raw counts.
Lexington has a murder rate of 3.2 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 upward over the past 5 years. Over the past 5 years, the total crime rate in Lexington has changed by +8.0%.
Violent crime in Lexington is 11% below the U.S. average and property crime is 23% below average. Lexington's overall Safety Context Score is 60/100 (grade C).
More about Lexington
Lexington, KY has a Safety Score of 60/100 (grade C). Violent crime is 11% below the national average. Crime has been trending upward 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.
For readers turning this answer into action: cross-reference against the underlying the FBI UCR/NIBRS dataset record before acting on time-sensitive decisions. The site renders the data as it was published; subsequent revisions can shift the picture, and the live federal data is always the authoritative current reference.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, 2026.