The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Abilene, TX
Abilene is a city of 133,300 in Taylor County and the main city of the Abilene metro area, home to 180,400 · Updated November 2026
Is Abilene, TX safe?
Crime in Abilene is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Abilene. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Abilene run from A+ to C-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 769 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Abilene as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Abilene scores 769.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Abilene, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Abilene, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Abilene
One part of Abilene stands out for burglary. Burglaries in Sayles Boulevard, in central Abilene, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Car thefts are less common than in most B-graded cities. Abilene has 1.4 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.9.
Thefts from cars happen at homes more often than nationally. In Abilene, 56% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Abilene
Low crime is the norm across Abilene: 81% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Abilene run from A+ to C-; 33% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
81%19%
A or B 81%C 19%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Lytle, southeastBurglaries run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Abilene.A+937
4Chimney Rock, Over Place & Red Bud, southClose to the rest of Abilene on most crimes.A-785
5South East Highway 80 & North East Highway 80, eastCar thefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Abilene.B+715
6Westwood Richland, northwestCar thefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.B646
7Elmwood, westCar thefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.B-608
8Sears Park & Cobb Park, northBurglaries run at about double the rate in the rest of Abilene.B-567
9Sayles Boulevard, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Abilene.C+485
Neighborhood areas of Abilene, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Abilene?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Abilene is up 10% and property crime is down 30%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.8 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 25 to 18 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
AbileneUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Abilene. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Abilene
Violent, US
Property, Abilene
Property, US
2016
+16%
+4%
+39%
+15%
2017
+37%
+4%
+24%
+12%
2018
+33%
+0%
+14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+10%
+4%
-16%
-8%
2021
+26%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
+22%
+5%
-21%
-6%
2023
+15%
+2%
-32%
-7%
2024
+10%
-4%
-30%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Abilene
CrimeGrade™ estimates Abilene has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% more than the US as a whole and close to Texas.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Simple assault is the most common crime in Abilene, about 39% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Abilene
Abilene has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Abilene, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Abilene compares with nearby cities
Abilene has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Empty homes, parking lots and walkability in Abilene
Two things set Abilene apart: it has 11.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 3.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.11.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 90% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 80% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 52% of US city residents
Show all 6
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Abilene: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 71% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 61% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Abilene on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Abilene
Crime costs Abilene about $1,353 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 12% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $65 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $208 million a year, or $1,561 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$10 million
$79
Rape
$5.7 million
$42
Robbery
$1.9 million
$14
Aggravated assault
$11 million
$84
Simple assault
$16 million
$120
Burglary
$3.7 million
$28
Theft
$8.7 million
$66
Vehicle theft
$2.8 million
$21
Arson
$180,000
$1
Vandalism
$4.5 million
$34
Total
$65 million
$489
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Abilene means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Abilene, TX average a SchoolGrade of C+: 46% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Abilene on SchoolGrade
