Abilene is a city of 133,300 in Taylor County and the main city of the Abilene metro area, home to 180,400 · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Abilene?
Violent crime is high in Abilene: a B+, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Assaults make up 94% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 734 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Abilene as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Abilene scores 734.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Abilene, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Abilene, 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 about violent crime in Abilene
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Violent crime in Abilene runs 54% above the US rate, but robberies run 27% below it: 0.45 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Aggravated assaults run high in Sayles Boulevard. In this part of central Abilene, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Abilene.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Abilene
Low violent crime is the norm across Abilene: 73% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 6% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Abilene run from A+ to D-.
73%21%
A or B 73%C 21%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Lytle, southeastAggravated assaults run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Abilene.A+933
4Chimney Rock, Over Place & Red Bud, southClose to the rest of Abilene on most crimes.B+755
5South East Highway 80 & North East Highway 80, eastAggravated assaults run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.B648
6Westwood Richland, northwestAggravated assaults run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.B-566
7Elmwood, westAggravated assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.C+533
8Sears Park & Cobb Park, northAggravated assaults run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Abilene.C+465
9Sayles Boulevard, centralSimple assaults run at about double the rate in the rest of Abilene.C-375
Neighborhood areas of Abilene, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is violent crime going up in Abilene?
Reported violent crime in Abilene has risen 10% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.8 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
AbileneUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Abilene. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Abilene
Violent, US
2016
+16%
+4%
2017
+37%
+4%
2018
+33%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+10%
+4%
2021
+26%
+6%
2022
+22%
+5%
2023
+15%
+2%
2024
+10%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Abilene
CrimeGrade™ estimates Abilene has about 21 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 54% more than the US as a whole and 37% more than Texas.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Simple assault is the most common violent crime in Abilene, about 80% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Abilene
Abilene has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Abilene, 61% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 46% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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.
Violent crime in Abilene and nearby cities
Abilene has the most violent crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Abilene looks like a typical city on the traits that tend to go with violent crime.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Abilene: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
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 61% 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 assault. 80% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 52% of US city residents
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.46 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 56% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Abilene 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 violent crime costs Abilene
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Abilene about $188 million a year, or $1,409 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $45 million, or $339 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 76% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$10 million
$79
Rape
$5.7 million
$42
Robbery
$1.9 million
$14
Aggravated assault
$11 million
$84
Simple assault
$16 million
$120
Total
$45 million
$339
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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.
