Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Buffalo, NY Crime Grade
How Buffalo grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of New York — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
10/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
New York
10/10
vs. New York cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Buffalo, NY was 683.1 per 100,000 residents (1,888 incidents over a population of 276,384). That puts Buffalo Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 50% above the New York statewide rate of 454.9.
That ranks Buffalo #3,503 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 7% of them, and #133 of 140 in New York. Violent crime is down 11% year over year and down 29% over the last five years.
Buffalo, NY crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (10/10)
- New York Grade
- F (10/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 683.1 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,503 of 3,771
- NY rank
- #133 of 140
- Safer than
- 7% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 11%
- 5-year change
- down 29%
- Population
- 276,384
- Reporting agency
- Buffalo Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Buffalo Police Department (FBI ORI NY0140100) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Buffalo, NY
Also known as
- Tsistekeriia'kón:ke
- De-ose-lole
- Tick-e-ack-gou-ga
- New Amsterdam
- De-o-tro-weh
- Ne-o-thro-ra
History
The variant name, "Tsistekeriia'kón:ke", is a Mohawk name which translates to: "Place of the buffalo".
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. Buffalo (red), New York (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Buffalo 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 | 961.7(2,441) | 780.5(2,152) | 760.7(2,099) | 770.1(2,108) | 683.1(1,888) |
| Murder | 26.0(66) | 24.3(67) | 14.5(40) | 13.9(38) | 10.9(30) |
| Rape | 59.5(151) | 44.2(122) | 46.8(129) | 48.2(132) | 48.1(133) |
| Robbery | 241.1(612) | 194.0(535) | 181.9(502) | 177.5(486) | 145.8(403) |
| Aggravated assault | 635.1(1,612) | 517.9(1,428) | 517.5(1,428) | 530.5(1,452) | 478.3(1,322) |
| Property crime | 3155.9(8,010) | 3316.5(9,144) | 4286.0(11,826) | 3994.8(10,935) | 3154.7(8,719) |
| Burglary | 426.7(1,083) | 506.7(1,397) | 494.7(1,365) | 484.8(1,327) | 388.2(1,073) |
| Larceny | 2077.2(5,272) | 2220.4(6,122) | 2353.2(6,493) | 2588.7(7,086) | 2185.4(6,040) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 603.6(1,532) | 561.5(1,548) | 1400.4(3,864) | 887.4(2,429) | 549.6(1,519) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Buffalo, NY 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 Buffalo 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 Buffalo calculated?
- Buffalo's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the New York state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to New York 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 Buffalo 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 New York
Comparable New York cities by population.
Compare Buffalo to other places
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