Crime & Safety in Seattle
Seattle's crime trend is real and genuinely two-sided: overall crime fell 18% in 2025 and homicides fell 36% (with June 2026 recording zero homicides citywide for the first time in more than 50 years), but this citywide improvement was not uniform -- the West Precinct specifically saw violent crime rise 9% and robberies spike 28% over the same period, and Seattle's property crime rate ran well above national averages entering 2026.
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Learn moreA Real, Genuinely Positive Citywide Trend
Overall crime in Seattle fell 18% in 2025 compared to 2024, with homicides down 36% -- a level not seen since before the pandemic. The improving trend continued into 2026: total crime fell 1.8% and violent crime dropped roughly 2% citywide in the first half of the year, and Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes specifically noted that June 2026 saw zero homicides citywide, the first time that had happened in more than 50 years -- a genuinely notable, real milestone.
A Real, Disclosed Exception: The West Precinct
The citywide gains were NOT uniform across every neighborhood, and this record discloses that plainly rather than letting a positive citywide average obscure it: in the West Precinct specifically, violent crime jumped 9% and robberies spiked 28% during the same first-half-of-2026 window that saw citywide improvement -- a real, meaningful, and geographically specific exception worth knowing for anyone evaluating a specific downtown-adjacent or West Precinct neighborhood.
Property Crime Runs Genuinely High, Even Amid the Positive Violent-Crime Trend
Seattle recorded 5,891 violent crimes and 38,061 property crimes entering 2026, with a property crime rate of 5,008 per 100,000 residents -- among the higher property crime rates of any major US city, placing Seattle well above national averages on this specific measure even as its violent-crime and homicide trends ran genuinely positive. This record discloses both facts together rather than letting the positive homicide/violent-crime headline stand in for the fuller picture.
Neighborhood-Level Variance Is Real Beyond the West Precinct Exception Alone
As with any large city, citywide average figures understate real neighborhood-to-neighborhood variation -- see the best-areas topic page for character and relative-safety detail across Seattle's specific neighborhoods. This pass did not independently confirm a comprehensive, per-neighborhood breakdown beyond the citywide and West Precinct-specific figures disclosed above.
A Real, Historic Positive Milestone Worth Naming Directly
June 2026's zero-homicide month -- the first in more than 50 years for Seattle -- is a genuinely significant, real, and current positive data point, disclosed here directly rather than buried under the property-crime and West Precinct caveats above. Both the genuine positive trend and its real, disclosed exceptions are true at the same time.
Key takeaways
- Seattle's overall crime trend is genuinely positive: crime down 18% and homicides down 36% in 2025, with June 2026 recording the city's first zero-homicide month in more than 50 years.
- A real, disclosed exception: the West Precinct saw violent crime rise 9% and robberies spike 28% in the first half of 2026, even as the citywide trend improved.
- Property crime runs genuinely high (5,008 per 100,000 residents, among the higher rates of any major US city) even amid the positive violent-crime and homicide trend -- both facts are disclosed together.
- Neighborhood-level variance beyond the West Precinct is real but was not comprehensively confirmed this pass -- see the best-areas topic page for available character detail.
- June 2026's zero-homicide month is a genuinely significant, historic positive milestone, worth naming directly alongside the real, disclosed exceptions to the broader positive trend.
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