Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Council Bluffs, IA Crime Grade
How Council Bluffs grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Iowa — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
9/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Iowa
9/10
vs. Iowa cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Council Bluffs, IA was 525.3 per 100,000 residents (329 incidents over a population of 62,635). That puts Council Bluffs Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 122% above the Iowa statewide rate of 236.6.
That ranks Council Bluffs #3,318 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 12% of them, and #37 of 40 in Iowa. Violent crime is up 25% year over year and up 46% over the last five years.
Council Bluffs, IA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (9/10)
- Iowa Grade
- F (9/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 525.3 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,318 of 3,771
- IA rank
- #37 of 40
- Safer than
- 12% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 25%
- 5-year change
- up 46%
- Population
- 62,635
- Reporting agency
- Council Bluffs Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Council Bluffs Police Department (FBI ORI IA0780100) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Council Bluffs, IA
Also known as
- Kanesville
- Miller's Hollow
History
Hamlet originally named Miller's Hollow and named Kanesville from 1848 to 1853. Founded in 1846 and incorporated in 1853.
Name history sourced from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — public-domain federal geographic-names data.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Council Bluffs (red), Iowa (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Council Bluffs vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 360.1(224) | 421.2(262) | 448.5(279) | 420.8(262) | 525.3(329) |
| Murder | 0.0(0) | 1.6(1) | 3.2(2) | 3.2(2) | 3.2(2) |
| Rape | 41.8(26) | 69.1(43) | 69.1(43) | 72.3(45) | 103.8(65) |
| Robbery | 45.0(28) | 86.8(54) | 72.3(45) | 70.7(44) | 55.9(35) |
| Aggravated assault | 273.3(170) | 263.6(164) | 303.8(189) | 274.6(171) | 362.4(227) |
| Property crime | 3443.6(2,142) | 3019.0(1,878) | 3082.9(1,918) | 2465.1(1,535) | 2230.4(1,397) |
| Burglary | 649.5(404) | 561.0(349) | 604.4(376) | 486.6(303) | 348.0(218) |
| Larceny | 2205.7(1,372) | 1929.1(1,200) | 1959.4(1,219) | 1634.8(1,018) | 1523.1(954) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 564.3(351) | 511.2(318) | 501.5(312) | 330.8(206) | 341.7(214) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Council Bluffs, IA Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Council Bluffs Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Council Bluffs calculated?
- Council Bluffs's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Iowa state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Iowa cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Council Bluffs Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in Iowa
Comparable Iowa cities by population.
Compare Council Bluffs to other places
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