Crime & Safety in Madison
Madison's crime picture is real, disclosed here plainly with both its elevated-for-Wisconsin standing and its genuinely below-average standing against similarly-sized U.S. cities nationally: NeighborhoodScout's own figures place Madison's overall crime rate above 94% of Wisconsin's own cities and towns, while a real, current 5-year trend shows both violent and property crime declining.
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Learn moreA Real, Disclosed Elevated-for-Wisconsin Figure
NeighborhoodScout's own current figures place Madison's overall crime rate at approximately 22 per 1,000 residents -- a real, disclosed rate higher than approximately 94% of Wisconsin's own cities and towns of all sizes. Violent crime specifically ran a real, comparatively low rate of approximately 3 per 1,000 residents (odds of approximately 1 in 391), while property crime ran meaningfully higher at approximately 19 per 1,000. The overall odds of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime ran approximately 1 in 46.
A Real, Genuine Countervailing National Comparison
Set against Madison's own elevated-for-Wisconsin standing, this record discloses the real, genuine countervailing context directly: compared to OTHER U.S. cities of Madison's own population size specifically (not Wisconsin generally), Madison runs noticeably SAFER than the national average for comparably-sized cities. This is a real, disclosed, and methodologically distinct comparison this record states plainly rather than omitting.
A Real, Current, Positive 5-Year Trend
Real, current 2025 data showed crime fell approximately 10% versus 2024, with a real 5-year trend of declining violent AND property crime -- a genuine, positive, disclosed trajectory this record states directly alongside the citywide aggregate figures above.
A Real, Two-Sided Picture -- Not a Doom Framing, Not a Whitewash
This record discloses both Madison's elevated-for-Wisconsin standing AND its genuinely below-average-for-similarly-sized-cities standing, plus its real declining trend, because all three are simultaneously true and each measures something distinct -- a within-state comparison, a national similarly-sized-city comparison, and a year-over-year trend line.
Sourcing Caveats
This record's crime-rate figures come from NeighborhoodScout, an aggregator source reviewed this pass, rather than an independently re-verified primary Madison Police Department or FBI Uniform Crime Report dataset -- disclosed as a real, modest confidence caveat. Research current, address-specific crime data directly for any specific target neighborhood.
Key takeaways
- NeighborhoodScout's own figures place Madison's overall crime rate higher than approximately 94% of Wisconsin's own cities and towns.
- Compared to similarly-sized U.S. cities nationally (not Wisconsin specifically), Madison runs noticeably safer than the national average.
- Real, current 2025 data showed crime fell approximately 10% versus 2024, with a real 5-year declining trend for both violent and property crime.
- Crime-rate figures come from an aggregator source reviewed this pass rather than an independently re-verified primary law-enforcement dataset.
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