The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Bowling Green, KY: Crime Maps and Statistics

Overall Crime Grade™

Violent Crime Grade	B
Property Crime Grade	C
Other Crime Grade	C

Which crimes are included?

$49.7 million

Cost of Crime™ for Bowling Green, KY

In 2025, crime will cost $1,041 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of Bowling Green with the least crime overall and red marks the most. Each area is weighted by the type and severity of every offense, so a place with rare but serious violent crime can grade differently from one with frequent petty theft. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read the colors.

Is Bowling Green, KY Safe?

The C overall grade blends the violent, property, and other grades shown above into one measure, set against the average US city, where Bowling Green's combined rate is about the same as the norm. Bowling Green sits in the 46th percentile, ahead of 46% of cities and behind 54%. The grade covers only Bowling Green's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The overall crime rate in Bowling Green is 25.35 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the southwest part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 26 in the north neighborhoods to 1 in 55 in the southwest.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the west parts of Bowling Green, KY report the most crime, about 665 cases per year. The east part reports the fewest, around 175 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Bowling Green, KY

Across all crime types, the projected cost of crime in Bowling Green for 2025 is $49,653,363, about $414 per resident and $1,041 per household. That equals 1.2% of the median household income. These figures cover tangible costs, which include:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 54.2%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 33.6%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 12.1%

How Much Does Crime Cost in Bowling Green Compared to Other Cities?

Bowling Green, KY:	$414
Shively, KY:	$844
Ekron, KY:	$233
Kentucky:	$450
USA:	$464

The overall cost of crime per resident in Bowling Green is $414 per year, which is $50 less than the national average and $36 less than Kentucky's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Bowling Green:

In Shively, KY, crime costs $844 per person, which is $430 more than in Bowling Green.
In Ekron, KY, crime costs $233 per person, which is $181 less than in Bowling Green

2025 Projected Cost by Type of Crime

The table below shows the total cost of crime to the residents of Bowling Green for the year 2025 along with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to Bowling Green	Cost per Bowling Green Resident
Murder	$19.0 million	$159
Rape/Sexual Assault	$4.06 million	$34
Robbery	$1.19 million	$10
Assault	$4.42 million	$37
Kidnapping	$1.72 million	$14
Vehicle Theft	$1.95 million	$16
Burglary	$2.83 million	$24
Theft	$6.18 million	$52
Arson	$231,138	$2
Vandalism	$3.46 million	$29
Animal Cruelty	$37,594	$0
Drug Crimes	$4.07 million	$34
Identity Theft	$458,028	$4
Total Cost of Crime	$49,653,363	$414

The Intangible Cost of Crime in Bowling Green, KY

The totals above count tangible costs only. Violent crime also carries a human cost, the pain and trauma borne by victims and their families, which research-based methods estimate so it can be compared across places. That intangible cost in Bowling Green totals $147,081,767 ($1,227 per resident), and all of it comes from violent crime rather than property loss. Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $196,735,130 ($1,642 per resident). All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Crime Maps

Crime rates on the map are measured per resident, so areas with heavy visitor traffic can read high because crime follows crowds, even where few people live. The central part of the city holds more retail establishments, which lifts recorded crime around those blocks. A red area does not always mean the neighborhood is unsafe for residents.

Airports, parks, and transit hubs create the same effect. Major airports draw large crowds with few residents nearby, so they read as high-crime spots. Parks and recreational areas do the same, and of Bowling Green's 119,848 residents few live beside them. Before assuming an area is unsafe, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Bowling Green, KY at ISP Reports.

Bowling Green Crime Breakdown

The tables below show which crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grades above. All crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Bowling Green residents in a standard year.

Violent Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	1.284
Robbery	0.3163
Rape	0.5581
Murder	0.0845
Total Violent Crime	2.243 (B)

Property Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Theft	9.961
Vehicle Theft	1.050
Burglary	2.608
Arson	0.0799
Total Property Crime	13.70 (C)

Other Crime Rates

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Kidnapping	0.2367
Drug Crimes	4.595
Vandalism	4.042
Identity Theft	0.4938
Animal Cruelty	0.0424
Total "Other" Rate	9.411 (C)

Individual Bowling Green Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of crime in Bowling Green is higher. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to Bowling Green.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Plum Springs, KY	B+	A+	A
Alvaton, KY	A-	A	A
Rich Pond, KY	B+	B+	B+
Rockfield, KY	A-	A-	A+
Girkin, KY	C	B+	C-
Matlock, KY	A-	B+	A-
Motley, KY	A+	A+	A
Boyce, KY	A+	A+	A+
Petros, KY	B+	B+	A-
Sunnyside, KY	C	A-	C-

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Bowling Green is lower versus other cities of the same size for crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Cleveland, OH	D+	D+	D+
Cicero, IL	C	C	C
Chino, CA	C	C	C
Columbia, MD	D+	C+	C+
Cheyenne, WY	C+	A	A
Chicago, IL	C-	C	C
Conway, AR	D+	D+	D+
Chesapeake, VA	C	C+	C+
College Station, TX	C+	D	D
Chico, CA	D+	D+	D+

Considering only the crime rate, Bowling Green is as safe as the Kentucky state average and safer than the national average.

Safety and school performance are separate topics, but both shape moving decisions. Using SchoolGrade data, schools in Bowling Green, KY average SchoolGrade of D+, with 29% actual proficiency versus 33% projected; overall, schools don't meet expectations. See Bowling Green schools on SchoolGrade

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.