The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Van Buren County, AR
Van Buren County is home to 16,000 residents and includes Clinton and Fairfield Bay · Updated November 2026
Is Van Buren County, AR safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Van Buren County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 81% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map and the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 939 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
81% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Van Buren County as a whole, and 19% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Van Buren County scores 939.
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 Van Buren County, AR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County
Reported rape is the exception. Van Buren County grades A+ for violent crime, but reported rape grades A-, worse than in the neighborhoods where 54% of Americans live.
How places in Van Buren County compare
Every part of Van Buren County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Van Buren County run from A+ to A; every part of Van Buren County has less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Van Buren County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the northwest side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Van Buren County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Van Buren County is up 44% and property crime is down 30%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.9 to 5.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 13 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 13% and property crime fell 11%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Van Buren CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Van Buren County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Van Buren County
Violent, US
Property, Van Buren County
Property, US
2016
-31%
+4%
+7%
+15%
2017
-40%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
-27%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-1%
+4%
-14%
-8%
2021
-19%
+6%
-14%
-10%
2022
-34%
+5%
-22%
-6%
2023
+28%
+2%
-21%
-7%
2024
+44%
-4%
-30%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Van Buren County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Van Buren County has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 5% more than the US as a whole and 18% less than Arkansas.
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 Van Buren County, about 49% 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 Van Buren County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Van Buren County, 2022 to 2024.
In Van Buren County, 43% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at other places: 55% of them, against 6% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Other places (48%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Other places (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Other places (63%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (43%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Van Buren County compares with nearby counties
Van Buren County has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Van Buren County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Van Buren County has more crime than 77% of them.
Night lighting, walkability and density in Van Buren County
Two things set Van Buren County apart: it has 6% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and a Walk Grade of F (3 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low here.
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.6% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 99% 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. 98% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (3 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 99% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.under 1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 99% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.24 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.12.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 93% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 89% 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 Van Buren County
Crime costs Van Buren County about $1,263 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $34 million a year, or $2,150 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$100
Rape
$1.5 million
$95
Robbery
$24,000
$1
Assault
$3.7 million
$228
Burglary
$250,000
$16
Theft
$820,000
$51
Vehicle theft
$290,000
$18
Arson
$140,000
$9
Vandalism
$570,000
$35
Total
$8.9 million
$554
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 Van Buren 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. Van Buren County is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Van Buren County, AR average a SchoolGrade of A-: 41% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Van Buren County on SchoolGrade
