Hobbs is the seventh-largest city in New Mexico, with 43,000 residents in Lea County · Updated November 2026
Is Hobbs, NM safe?
Hobbs has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 81% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade C+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hobbs run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 519 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
19% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hobbs as a whole, and 81% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hobbs scores 519.
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 Hobbs, NM at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hobbs, 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 Hobbs
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Hobbs runs at about double the US rate, but robberies run 23% below it: 0.48 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Burglary stands out among C-graded cities. For the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 2.5 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Hobbs has 8.0.
The safest and least safe parts of Hobbs
Safety changes a lot from one part of Hobbs to the next: 37% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 35% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Hobbs run from A+ to F; 15% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
37%28%35%
A or B 37%C 28%D or F 35%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Hobbs, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Hobbs
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hobbs has about 81 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 29% more than New Mexico.
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.
Theft makes up about 32% of crime reported in Hobbs. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Hobbs
Hobbs has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Hobbs, 63% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 75% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (63%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (60%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Homes (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Hobbs
Two things set Hobbs apart: it has 3.8 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 11.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 93% of US city residents
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
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. 66% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (25 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% 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 Hobbs: 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.13.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 80% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 66% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Hobbs 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 Hobbs
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Hobbs about $2,949 a year per household, more than double the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $147 million a year, or $3,416 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$10 million
$240
Rape
$1.5 million
$36
Robbery
$640,000
$15
Assault
$13 million
$295
Burglary
$3.1 million
$72
Theft
$5.7 million
$132
Vehicle theft
$2.4 million
$57
Arson
$92,000
$2
Vandalism
$6.0 million
$139
Total
$42 million
$988
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 Hobbs 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 Hobbs, NM average a SchoolGrade of C: 29% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Hobbs on SchoolGrade
