Knoxville, TN Violent Crime Rates and Maps

D+

Violent Crime Grade	D
Property Crime Grade	C-
Other Crime Grade	D

Which crimes are included?

$307.5 million

Cost of Crime™ for Knoxville, TN

In 2025, violent crime will cost $810 per household.

More cost data

On the map, green marks the parts of the Knoxville area with the least violent crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Violent crime concentrates where people gather after dark, near nightlife, bars, and transit, more than on residential streets. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains how to read those hot spots.

The D grade reflects how often assault, robbery, rape, and murder occur in the Knoxville area against the average US city, where the rate is higher than the norm. Knoxville sits in the 19th percentile for violent-crime safety, ahead of 19% of cities and behind 81%. The grade covers only the Knoxville area's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.

The violent crime rate in the Knoxville area is 5.012 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally consider the west part of the city the safest. Your chance of being a victim ranges from 1 in 119 in the east neighborhoods to 1 in 282 in the west.

Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the east parts of Knoxville, TN report the most violent crime, about 1,116 cases per year. The southeast part reports the fewest, around 235 per year.

The Cost of Crime™ in Knoxville, TN

The tangible cost of violent crime in Knoxville is projected at $307,525,325 for 2025, about $327 per resident and $810 per household. That equals 0.8% of the median household income, and it counts only the bills that can be totaled: emergency care, lost wages, and the justice response. The larger cost, the harm to victims, comes later on this page. These tangible costs split into:

Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 41.3%
Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 45.3%
Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 13.3%

How Much Does Violent Crime Cost in Knoxville Compared to Other Cities?

Knoxville, TN:	$327
Bolivar, TN:	$948
Collegedale, TN:	$128
Tennessee:	$402
USA:	$258

The tangible cost of violent crime is $327 per resident each year in Knoxville, which is $69 more than the national average and $75 less than Tennessee's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Knoxville:

In Bolivar, TN, crime costs $948 per person, which is $621 more than in Knoxville.
In Collegedale, TN, crime costs $128 per person, which is $199 less than in Knoxville

2025 Projected Violent Crime Cost by Type

The table below breaks the violent-crime total into its four offenses for Knoxville, with the projected cost per resident.

Crime	Cost to Knoxville	Cost per Knoxville Resident
Murder	$151.2 million	$161
Rape/Sexual Assault	$41.9 million	$45
Robbery	$15.7 million	$17
Assault	$98.8 million	$105
Total Cost of Violent Crime	$307,525,325	$327

The Human Cost of Violent Crime in Knoxville, TN

Much of what violent crime costs never reaches a bill. Pain, trauma, and lost quality of life for victims and their families typically outweigh the medical and legal totals above. Research-based methods put a figure on that harm so it can be compared across places. By those methods, the human cost of violent crime in Knoxville totals $1,234,488,149 ($1,314 per resident). Added to the tangible costs, the full estimate reaches $1,542,013,475 ($1,641 per resident). This human toll is what sets violent crime apart from property crime in Knoxville, TN, where the loss is mostly replaceable property. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.

Interpreting the Violent Crime Maps

Violent crime rates are measured per resident, so places packed with visitors after dark read high even when few people live there. Bars, clubs, event venues, and transit hubs draw the crowds where assaults and robberies cluster. How strongly this shows on the map depends on the commercial base; the central part of the city has more retail establishments. A red block full of bars and venues does not mean the homes around it are dangerous.

Transit stations show the same effect: large moving crowds, few residents, so per-capita violent crime reads high. Before judging a residential street, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total count of incidents, and note what draws crowds nearby.

The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Knoxville, TN at ISP Reports.

Knoxville Violent Crime Breakdown

The table below shows which offenses feed the Violent Crime Grade above, each as crimes per 1,000 Knoxville residents in a standard year.

Crime Type	Crime Rate
Assault	3.662
Robbery	0.5298
Rape	0.7347
Murder	0.0856
Total Violent Crime	5.012 (D)

Individual Knoxville Crime Maps & Stats

Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities

Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of violent crime in the Knoxville area is similar. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to the Knoxville area.

Nearby City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Powell, TN	D+	D-	C-
Louisville, TN	C	D+	B-
Edgemoor, TN	D+	D+	D+
Rockford, TN	D	D	C-
Clinton, TN	D+	D	C-
Farragut, TN	D+	C+	D+
Seymour, TN	C	D+	C+
Oak Ridge, TN	D	C-	D+
Mascot, TN	D	F	C-
Strawberry Plains, TN	C-	D	C

Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations

Knoxville is higher versus other cities of the same size for violent crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.

Similar City	Overall Crime Grade	Violent Crime Grade	Property Crime Grade
Baton Rouge, LA	D	D-	D-
Oxnard, CA	C	D+	D+
Allentown, PA	B	B	B
New Haven, CT	C	A-	A-
Sarasota, FL	A+	A-	A-
El Paso, TX	D-	D	D
Columbia, SC	D-	D-	D-
McAllen, TX	D-	D-	D-
Dayton, OH	C-	C	C
Albany, NY	B-	C	C

Considering only the violent crime rate, the Knoxville area is safer than the Tennessee state average and less safe than the national average.

About the Data

CrimeGrade.org provides highly detailed and accurate crime data, used by insurance companies, home security firms, and other industries. Our data is available for licensing—learn more about our USA crime data and licensing.

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All maps and statistics above are projections, not certainties, and provided without guarantee free of charge. Verify all info before making any decisions based on the data.