Jackson is the ninth-largest city in Tennessee, with 79,600 residents in Madison County · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Jackson?
Jackson grades C for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 88% of Americans live. Assaults make up 95% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
C
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 417 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
12% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Jackson as a whole, and 88% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Jackson scores 417.
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 Jackson, TN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Jackson, 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 Jackson
Murder runs high. Jackson has about 16 murders a year, a rate more than triple the national one.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Jackson
Violent crime varies widely across Jackson: 60% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 30% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Jackson run from A+ to F.
60%10%30%
A or B 60%C 10%D or F 30%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is violent crime going up in Jackson?
Reported violent crime in Jackson has held about steady since 2019, within 3%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 9.7 to 9.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
JacksonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Jackson. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Jackson
Violent, US
2016
+3%
+4%
2017
+2%
+4%
2018
+4%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+7%
+4%
2021
-1%
+6%
2022
-3%
+5%
2023
+15%
+2%
2024
-3%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Jackson
CrimeGrade™ estimates Jackson has about 30 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 49% more than Tennessee.
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 Jackson, about 95% 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 Jackson
Jackson has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Jackson, 56% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at homes: 34% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (56%)
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 Jackson and nearby cities
Jackson has the most violent crime of its 5 nearest cities.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Jackson apart: it has 74 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of D- (11 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.74 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 89% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Jackson: D- (8 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (11 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 72% of US city residents
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 65% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Jackson 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 Jackson
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Jackson about $325 million a year, or $4,080 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $62 million, or $784 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 81% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$30 million
$375
Rape
$1.5 million
$19
Robbery
$2.2 million
$28
Assault
$29 million
$362
Total
$62 million
$784
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.
