The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Sweetwater, TX
Sweetwater is a city of 11,900 in Nolan County, about 40 miles west of downtown Abilene · Updated November 2026
Is Sweetwater, TX safe?
Yes, crime in Sweetwater is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Sweetwater sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 57% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A+ against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Sweetwater run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 869 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
57% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Sweetwater as a whole, and 43% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Sweetwater scores 869.
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 Sweetwater, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Sweetwater, 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 Sweetwater
Reported rapes run above the US rate. Sweetwater has less crime than the US as a whole, 17% below the US rate, but more reported rapes: 1.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Sweetwater
Most of Sweetwater grades well: 93% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Sweetwater run from A+ to C+; 22% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
93%
A or B 93%C 7%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Sweetwater, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Sweetwater?
Reported property crime in Sweetwater has fallen 57% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 26 to 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
SweetwaterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Sweetwater. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Sweetwater
Property, US
2016
+106%
+15%
2017
+30%
+12%
2018
+14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-48%
-8%
2021
-27%
-10%
2022
-46%
-6%
2023
-56%
-7%
2024
-57%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Sweetwater
CrimeGrade™ estimates Sweetwater has about 31 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 17% less than the US as a whole and 26% less 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 Sweetwater, about 47% 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 Sweetwater
Sweetwater has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Sweetwater, 72% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (72%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (39%)
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.
How Sweetwater compares with nearby cities
Sweetwater has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Empty homes, parking lots and walkability in Sweetwater
Two things set Sweetwater apart: it has 16.6% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 4.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run lower here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.16.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 95% 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 67% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 87% of US city residents
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 Sweetwater: 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.13.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 81% of US city residents
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 Sweetwater
Crime costs Sweetwater about $1,294 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 7% 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 $27 million a year, or $2,245 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.9 million
$164
Rape
$780,000
$66
Robbery
$170,000
$15
Assault
$2.0 million
$172
Burglary
$280,000
$24
Theft
$460,000
$39
Vehicle theft
$240,000
$20
Arson
$74,000
$6
Vandalism
$250,000
$21
Total
$6.2 million
$526
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 Sweetwater 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 Sweetwater, TX average a SchoolGrade of D+: 40% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Sweetwater on SchoolGrade
