November Crime Snapshot: Crime Rates in Colorado

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How Does Colorado Compare Nationally?

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Introduction

Colorado’s crime has risen to one of the highest rates in the nation in the past ten years. As of 2022, Colorado ranked 4^th highest nationally for combined property and violent crime rates according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data. This is a dramatic decrease from the 2012 ranking of 31^st. Both property and violent crime rates have risen steadily since the early 2010s, speeding up in the early 2020s. The state ranked 3^rd in the nation for property crime rates and 8^th in the nation for violent crime rates.

Colorado Violent & Property Crime Rate - Rank out of 50 States and D.C.
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Property Crime	30	28	27	24	21	19	13	15	4	2	3
Violent Crime	30	29	31	30	30	25	20	22	21	11	8
Combined	31	29	28	27	23	18	15	15	5	2	4
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Report, Crime Data Explorer

Crime Rate in Colorado.

According to data from Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the average monthly crime rate is still exceedingly high—over 500 incidents per 100,000 residents (the peak of 586.2 per 100,000). Motor vehicle crime is 123.3% higher than the 18.9 per 100,000 prior to 2014 when the state legislature lowered the penalties for property theft. However, since 2021, crimes against persons fell 6.3%, property crimes declined 17.6%, and crimes against society dropped 8.2%.

Crime Rate in Colorado Relative to the U.S. and in Neighboring Western States.

Despite the crime rate decrease between 2021 and 2022, the state’s crime rates still outpace the nation’s and neighboring states. Colorado’s crime rate is higher 56% higher than for the U.S. overall, and it is higher than seven of its neighboring states. Only in New Mexico is the crime rate higher than Colorado’s (3%).

Colorado Crime Rate Relative to the U.S. and Neighboring States
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Colorado	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Kansas	85%	90%	91%	94%	96%	98%	100%	112%	124%	135%	151%
Oklahoma	77%	79%	83%	88%	89%	92%	92%	91%	103%	118%	132%
Texas	79%	81%	83%	91%	97%	103%	111%	106%	121%	138%	133%
New Mexico	72%	67%	69%	68%	67%	66%	74%	75%	90%	101%	97%
Arizona	75%	78%	80%	86%	89%	90%	98%	104%	120%	143%	146%
Utah	93%	90%	91%	91%	96%	102%	117%	125%	120%	154%	170%
Wyoming	120%	123%	132%	140%	140%	150%	156%	168%	177%	190%	198%
Nebraska	99%	102%	102%	117%	121%	118%	131%	128%	145%	171%	168%
U.S.	92%	95%	97%	103%	109%	112%	120%	119%	138%	163%	156%

Colorado is the only state among its eight neighbors to have seen the crime rate increase from 2012 to 2022, having risen 21.6%. On average, crime rates in neighboring states fell 28% over the same period. For the U.S. overall, the crime rates decreased 28.3%.

Crime Rate in Colorado and Neighboring States
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Change 2012-2022
Colorado	2993	2960	2843	2962	3095	3079	3113	2999	3257	3627	3640	21.60%
Kansas	3513	3302	3110	3149	3231	3128	3102	2682	2624	2692	2407	-31.50%
Oklahoma	3907	3727	3441	3348	3465	3346	3378	3302	3164	3067	2752	-29.60%
Texas	3772	3664	3422	3254	3193	2991	2792	2827	2692	2625	2732	-27.60%
New Mexico	4164	4406	4140	4369	4628	4689	4222	4003	3620	3593	3765	-09.60%
Arizona	3965	3781	3564	3449	3472	3414	3168	2883	2713	2540	2489	-37.20%
Utah	3230	3272	3122	3241	3218	3020	2659	2406	2725	2358	2137	-33.80%
Wyoming	2494	2404	2160	2123	2204	2053	1998	1783	1845	1910	1839	-26.30%
Nebraska	3019	2897	2800	2522	2561	2599	2377	2351	2243	2116	2172	-28.10%
U.S.	3256	3103	2936	2874	2849	2758	2593	2511	2357	2219	2335	-28.30%

Crime Rate in Colorado’s Cities Relative to Other U.S. Cities.

The following table shows the crime rates for 10 major crime categories in 13 Colorado cities as of the second quarter of 2022 and 2023. Crime categories where the city ranks in the top 10% of the 226 cities that reported to the FBI are highlighted in orange. In 2023, seven cities rank in the top 10% in at least one category of crime. Pueblo ranks in the top 10% in every category of crime and Denver ranks in the top 10% in seven of the ten categories. Denver ranks 3^rd in property crime, 4^th in motor vehicle thefts, and 20^th in both aggravated assault and overall violent crime.

FBI Quarterly Crime Rate (2nd Quarter 2022 and 2023) - Rank Out of 226 Cities Reporting with Populations of 100,000 or More
		Violent Crime	Murder	Rape	Robbery	Aggravated Assault	Property Crime	Burglary	Larceny-theft	Motor Vehicle Theft	Arson
Arvada	2022	167	191	154	156	160	65	104	72	38	68
	2023	186	146	198	171	182	102	101	109	70	53
Aurora	2022	23	63	43	19	22	25	64	73	3	30
	2023	28	66	38	37	25	24	39	73	12	37
Boulder	2022	162	64	186	161	152	130	80	131	149	50
	2023	133	97	86	182	121	59	41	45	122	59
Centennial	2022	187	191	204	209	168	135	112	161	78	102
	2023	207	190	224	209	191	165	130	171	120	66
Colorado Springs	2022	74	101	26	118	74	62	41	65	56	12
	2023	79	152	45	120	73	47	52	44	52	14
Denver	2022	31	48	15	38	32	4	27	13	2	47
	2023	20	49	16	27	20	3	11	8	4	70
Fort Collins	2022	166	191	130	200	148	113	152	87	148	81
	2023	160	190	165	181	139	129	152	99	172	91
Greeley	2022	70	122	78	113	59	61	106	85	22	28
	2023	156	168	204	168	138	206	203	218	123	218
Lakewood	2022	44	129	56	35	50	11	22	17	6	55
	2023	68	60	107	38	78	29	65	27	29	21
Longmont	2022	138	160	8	204	137	109	117	96	110	37
	2023	124	190	14	191	122	122	142	112	121	57
Pueblo	2022	8	20	2	7	14	5	5	11	9	3
	2023	5	18	6	11	7	7	7	15	7	9
Thornton	2022	160	180	24	127	191	43	137	40	26	79
	2023	164	123	15	127	206	70	137	61	51	58
Westminster	2022	156	191	143	119	161	18	84	26	7	52
	2023	137	172	69	123	137	35	124	38	19	92
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation Quarterly Uniform Crime Report – 2nd Quarter 2023.