Hays County is home to 268,600 residents and includes San Marcos and Kyle · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Hays County?
Hays County earns an A for violent crime, safer than the neighborhoods where 55% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 878 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Hays County as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Hays County scores 878.
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 Hays County, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hays 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 about violent crime in Hays County
Reported rape is the exception. Hays County grades A for violent crime, but reported rape grades B, worse than in the neighborhoods where 74% of Americans live.
Robberies are uncommon. Hays County has robberies at less than half the US rate: 0.19 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Hays County
Every part of Hays County where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Hays County run from A+ to C+.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Hays County with at least 1,000 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 Hays County?
Reported violent crime in Hays County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 33% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.0 to 2.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 17%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Hays CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Hays County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hays County
Violent, US
2016
+17%
+4%
2017
+9%
+4%
2018
+18%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+15%
+4%
2021
+46%
+6%
2022
+59%
+5%
2023
+27%
+2%
2024
+6%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Hays County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hays County has about 10 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 23% less than the US as a whole and 32% less 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.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Hays County, about 93% 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 Hays County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Hays County, 2022 to 2024.
In Hays County, 51% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 42% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (51%)
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 Hays County and nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Hays County, 9 have less violent crime. Blanco County and Kendall County have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Hays County. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Hays County is safer than 69% of them.
Hays County looks like a typical county 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 Hays County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 83% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.16% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 50% 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 violent crime costs Hays County
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Hays County about $170 million a year, or $634 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $43 million, or $160 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 75% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.4 million
$20
Rape
$8.3 million
$31
Robbery
$1.6 million
$6
Assault
$28 million
$103
Total
$43 million
$160
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.
