Norfolk, VA crime rate
In 2025 the Norfolk Police Department reported 399.4 violent crimes and 3,191.2 property crimes per 100,000 residents it covers. The FBI's estimates for Virginia and the US for the same year are beside each number.
Data as of 2025 (FBI), checked October 30, 2026. How we got these numbers
Data notes.
- Arson, 2023: unusual change, check the source. 2022: 9, 2023: 19, 2024: 9 (over 160% of both neighbouring years). Changes to and from 2023 are not shown.
How does Norfolk compare with Virginia and the US?
Arson has no FBI state or US estimate, so its row shows Norfolk only.
What offenses were reported in Norfolk, 2025?
| Offense | Reported | Per 100k | Virginia | US | vs 2024 | vs 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | ||||||
| Violent crime | 919 | 399.4 | 205.9 | 327.6 | down 16.7% | down 46.6% |
| Murder | 27 | 11.7 | 4.2 | 4.1 | down 25.0% | down 55.7% |
| Rape | 92 | 40.0 | 23.6 | 36.1 | down 13.0% | down 24.8% |
| Robbery | 164 | 71.3 | 29.8 | 49.4 | down 8.2% | down 38.5% |
| Aggravated assault | 636 | 276.4 | 148.3 | 238.0 | down 18.8% | down 50.0% |
| Property crime | ||||||
| Property crime | 7,342 | 3,191.2 | 1,353.5 | 1,534.8 | down 16.0% | down 1.5% |
| Burglary | 482 | 209.5 | 87.1 | 193.6 | down 18.7% | up 4.5% |
| Larceny-theft | 6,298 | 2,737.5 | 1,154.2 | 1,144.1 | down 12.8% | up 6.1% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 547 | 237.8 | 112.1 | 197.0 | down 40.6% | down 48.0% |
| Arson | 15 | 6.5 | Not estimated | Not estimated | up 66.7% | up 160.0% |
Reported = offenses known to the Norfolk Police Department and sent to the FBI. Virginia and US are FBI estimates for the same year. Changes compare rates of full years only.
Violent crime rate, 2021 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Norfolk | United States | Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 748.1 | 387.0 | 225.5 |
| 2022 | 713.7 | 388.7 | 237.5 |
| 2023 | 542.8 | 379.5 | 241.6 |
| 2024 | 479.5 | 362.9 | 222.5 |
| 2025 | 399.4 | 327.6 | 205.9 |
Property crime rate, 2021 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Norfolk | United States | Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,241.0 | 1,832.3 | 1,449.4 |
| 2022 | 4,909.2 | 1,973.8 | 1,714.1 |
| 2023 | 3,851.9 | 1,934.1 | 1,670.1 |
| 2024 | 3,801.1 | 1,761.1 | 1,584.0 |
| 2025 | 3,191.2 | 1,534.8 | 1,353.5 |
Is Norfolk safe?
We don't rate cities as safe or unsafe. What the FBI's numbers show: in 2025 the violent crime rate the Norfolk Police Department reported, 399.4 per 100,000 residents, was higher than Virginia's 205.9, and higher than the US rate of 327.6 (FBI estimates). It fell 16.7% from 2024.
What these numbers can't tell you:
- How crime differs between neighborhoods (the FBI publishes agency totals only).
- Crimes nobody reported to the police.
- How many offenses involved visitors and commuters, who are not in the population count.
In 2025, 919 violent crimes were reported to the FBI by Norfolk police. Measured per 100,000 residents covered by the Norfolk Police Department, the rate was 399.4, 1.9 times the Virginia estimate of 205.9 and 1.2 times the US rate of 327.6. Property crime stood at 3,191.2 per 100,000, which is 2.4 times the state's 1,353.5 and 2.1 times the national figure.
The violent rate is down 46.6% from 748.1 in 2021, with a 16.7% drop from 2024 to 2025. Property crime fell 16.0% in the last year and is 1.5% below 2021. Murder fell the most of the violent offenses in both periods, 55.7% since 2021 and 25.0% since 2024, leaving 27 homicides and a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 in 2025.
Aggravated assault was 69% of violent crime and dropped 50.0% from 2021. Of the property offenses, motor vehicle theft fell the most, 48.0% from 2021 and 40.6% from 2024. Larceny-theft made up 86% of property crime.
The 2023 arson count is flagged as an unusual change and is left out of the comparisons. The department reported all 12 months for each of the 5 years shown and has used NIBRS since 1999. It had 3.16 police employees per 1,000 residents in 2025.
Written from the numbers on this page. Every figure and every comparison is checked against the stored FBI data before publishing.
Police employees, 2025: 3.16 per 1,000 residents (542 officers, 185 civilians), FBI Crime Data Explorer. Shown as context, not as a measure of crime.
Other Virginia cities
The nearest Virginia cities with a page, in alphabetical order. VC = violent crime per 100,000, 2025.
Sources
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, Norfolk Police Department (ORI VA1170000), offenses known to law enforcement and police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026. Crime Data Explorer
- FBI Crime Data Explorer, Virginia and United States estimated crime (Summary Reporting System estimates), 2021 to 2025.
- FBI, "UCR Statistics: Their Proper Use" (why we don't rank cities).
Every stored file behind this page (11)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): violent crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_violent_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): murder, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_homicide__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): rape, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_rape__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): robbery, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_robbery__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): aggravated assault, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_aggravated_assault__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): property crime, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_property_crime__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): burglary, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_burglary__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): larceny-theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_larceny__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): motor vehicle theft, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_motor_vehicle_theft__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): arson, offenses known to law enforcement, January 2021 to December 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/summarized_agency_VA1170000_arson__from-01-2021-to-12-2025.json)
- Norfolk Police Department (VA1170000): police employees, 2021 to 2025, fetched Oct 29, 2026 (var/raw/cde/pe_agency_VA1170000__from-2021-to-2025.json)