Arkansas is home to 3.05 million residents; Little Rock is both its capital and its largest city · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Arkansas?
Arkansas ranks 29th safest of the 50 states and Washington, DC for violent crime, with a CrimeGrade™ of A. Assaults make up 94% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 848 of 1,00029th safest of the 50 states and DCi What this means
47% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Arkansas as a whole, and 53% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Arkansas scores 848.
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 Arkansas at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Arkansas, 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 Arkansas
Aggravated assaults and reported rapes both run high. In Arkansas, each runs at about double the US rate: 4.7 aggravated assaults and 0.71 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 0.38 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Arkansas
Most of Arkansas grades well for violent crime: 84% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 10% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Arkansas run from A+ to F.
84%10%
A or B 84%C 6%D or F 10%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
All 75 counties, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Cities of 10,000 or more residents, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Is violent crime going up in Arkansas?
Reported violent crime in Arkansas peaked in 2021 and has fallen 15% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.8 to 6.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
ArkansasUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Arkansas. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Arkansas
Violent, US
2016
-5%
+4%
2017
-3%
+4%
2018
-4%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+17%
+4%
2021
+20%
+6%
2022
+13%
+5%
2023
+8%
+2%
2024
+2%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Arkansas
CrimeGrade™ estimates Arkansas has about 20 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 51% more than the US as a whole.
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.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Arkansas, about 94% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 42% of the cost of violent crime here.
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 Arkansas
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Arkansas, 2022 to 2024.
In Arkansas, 58% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 36% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 Arkansas and nearby states
Arkansas has less violent crime than 5 of its 10 nearest states.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Arkansas apart: it has 5% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery; here robbery sits near the national middle.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 99% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Arkansas: F (2 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 96% of Americans
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Arkansas on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more. Its Walk Grade for Arkansas is D- (10 of 100).
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 Arkansas
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Arkansas about $6.42 billion a year, or $2,104 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $1.33 billion, or $435 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 79% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$428 million
$140
Rape
$131 million
$43
Robbery
$37 million
$12
Assault
$731 million
$240
Total
$1.33 billion
$435
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. Arkansas 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.
