The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Howard County, TX
Howard County is home to 32,300 residents and includes Big Spring and Coahoma · Updated November 2026
Is Howard County, TX safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Howard County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Howard County sits near the middle: 49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Howard County run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 831 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Howard County as a whole, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Howard County scores 831.
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 Howard County, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Howard County, 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 Howard County
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Howard County runs 77% above the US rate, but robberies run 41% below it: 0.37 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Burglary stands out among A-graded counties. For the typical resident of an A-graded US county, the figure is 1.4 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Howard County has 5.2.
The safest and least safe parts of Howard County
Most of Howard County grades well: 71% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 3% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Howard County run from A+ to F; 26% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
71%26%
A or B 71%C 26%D or F 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Howard County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Howard County is up 19% and property crime is down 21%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.6 to 6.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 36 to 29 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Howard CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Howard County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Howard County
Violent, US
Property, Howard County
Property, US
2016
-2%
+4%
+26%
+15%
2017
-2%
+4%
-9%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
-22%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-10%
+4%
-18%
-8%
2021
+23%
+6%
-25%
-10%
2022
+22%
+5%
-26%
-6%
2023
+35%
+2%
-24%
-7%
2024
+19%
-4%
-21%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Howard County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Howard County has about 66 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 77% more than the US as a whole and 57% more than 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Howard County, about 44% 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 Howard County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Howard County, 2022 to 2024.
In Howard County, 68% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 34% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (68%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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; they are over one in five for burglary.
How Howard County compares with nearby counties
Howard County has more crime than 7 of its 9 nearest counties. Glasscock County and Martin County have the least crime nearby.
Empty homes, transit and walkability in Howard County
Two things set Howard County apart: it has 12.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (10 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson, and burglary runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.12.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 93% of Americans
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 Howard County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 79% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.36 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 70% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 65% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 64% of Americans
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 Howard County
Crime costs Howard County about $2,111 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 75% more than 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 $79 million a year, or $2,461 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.4 million
$136
Rape
$1.1 million
$34
Robbery
$370,000
$11
Assault
$11 million
$326
Burglary
$1.5 million
$47
Theft
$3.1 million
$97
Vehicle theft
$1.5 million
$48
Arson
$75,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.0 million
$62
Total
$25 million
$763
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 Howard County 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 Howard County, TX average a SchoolGrade of B-: 47% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Howard County on SchoolGrade
