Crime & Safety in Fayetteville
Fayetteville's crime picture is genuinely more severe than the national average by every source reviewed this session, and the three independent sources agree on that direction even though they disagree on exact scale: NeighborhoodScout cites an overall crime rate of 38 per 1,000 residents (among the highest in the country across all community sizes), CrimeGrade puts Fayetteville in just the 7th percentile nationally for safety, and an FBI-UCR-based aggregator cites a violent crime rate 83.89% above the national average and a property crime rate 75.83% above it.
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Learn moreViolent Crime: Three Sources, Consistent Direction
NeighborhoodScout estimates a Fayetteville resident's chance of being a violent-crime victim in a given year at about 1 in 151, describing the city's violent crime rate as one of the highest in the nation. CrimeGrade cites a violent crime rate of 6.883 per 1,000 residents in a typical year (roughly 688 per 100,000), placing Fayetteville in the 7th percentile nationally -- ahead of only about 7% of U.S. cities on safety. A separate aggregator citing FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data put Fayetteville's violent crime rate at 660.2 per 100,000 residents, 83.89% above the national rate of 359.0 per 100,000. The CrimeGrade and FBI-UCR-based figures land close to each other (roughly 660-688 per 100,000); NeighborhoodScout's differently framed 1-in-151 odds describes the same general severity through a different lens.
Property Crime and Motor Vehicle Theft
The FBI-UCR-based aggregator cites Fayetteville's property crime rate at 3,094.6 per 100,000 residents, 75.83% above the national rate of 1,760.0 per 100,000 -- with overall crime described as 77.18% above the national average. NeighborhoodScout separately flags motor vehicle theft as a particular concern, citing one of the highest rates in the nation with a resident's chance of having a vehicle stolen at about 1 in 279, and an overall combined violent-or-property victimization chance of about 1 in 27. NeighborhoodScout also cites a 'cost of crime' figure of $501 per resident per year, described as $243 above the national average.
Within North Carolina, a Real Comparative Gap
NeighborhoodScout notes that more than 90% of North Carolina communities have a lower crime rate than Fayetteville -- a real, disclosed, in-state comparative gap, not just a national-average comparison. This is consistent with Fayetteville's crime figures running notably higher than the Piedmont Tier A+ cities covered elsewhere in this dataset (Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham), though a precise, source-matched side-by-side comparison across those specific cities was not separately re-run this pass.
No Independently Confirmed Recent-Trend Data This Pass
Unlike some other Tier A+ markets in this dataset where a documented, sourced year-over-year crime-trend improvement was found and disclosed, no comparable, independently confirmed recent-year crime TREND figure specific to Fayetteville (a percentage change year-over-year, similar to what was found for Houston) was located this session. Treat the figures above as a snapshot rather than an established trend in either direction, and check current, local Fayetteville Police Department reporting directly for the most up-to-date trend data.
Key takeaways
- Three independent sources agree crime runs well above the national average: NeighborhoodScout (38/1,000 overall rate, 1-in-151 violent-crime-victim odds), CrimeGrade (7th percentile nationally for safety), and an FBI-UCR-based aggregator (violent crime 83.89% above national, property crime 75.83% above national).
- Motor vehicle theft is specifically flagged as a notable concern (about 1-in-279 odds, among the highest rates in the nation per NeighborhoodScout); overall combined violent-or-property victimization odds are cited at about 1-in-27.
- More than 90% of North Carolina communities have a lower crime rate than Fayetteville, per NeighborhoodScout -- a real, disclosed in-state comparative gap, not just a national comparison.
- No independently confirmed recent-year crime TREND (improving or worsening) was found this session -- treat the figures above as a current snapshot, and check current FPD reporting for trend data.
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