Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Wilmington, NC Crime Grade
How Wilmington grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of North Carolina — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
9/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
North Carolina
7/10
vs. North Carolina cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Wilmington, NC was 403.9 per 100,000 residents (516 incidents over a population of 127,752). That puts Wilmington Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 24% above the North Carolina statewide rate of 325.3.
That ranks Wilmington #3,034 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 20% of them, and #52 of 86 in North Carolina. Violent crime is down 16% year over year and down 23% over the last five years.
Wilmington, NC crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (9/10)
- North Carolina Grade
- C (7/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 403.9 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,034 of 3,771
- NC rank
- #52 of 86
- Safer than
- 20% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 16%
- 5-year change
- down 23%
- Population
- 127,752
- Reporting agency
- Wilmington Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Wilmington Police Department (FBI ORI NC0650200) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Wilmington, NC
Also known as
- New Liverpool
- New Town
- Newton
- New Carthage
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. Wilmington (red), North Carolina (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Wilmington 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 | 522.3(662) | 533.7(636) | 491.5(603) | 483.6(605) | 403.9(516) |
| Murder | 11.0(14) | 10.1(12) | 8.2(10) | 5.6(7) | 7.0(9) |
| Rape | 72.6(92) | 66.3(79) | 34.2(42) | 45.6(57) | 42.3(54) |
| Robbery | 84.4(107) | 93.2(111) | 99.4(122) | 72.7(91) | 80.6(103) |
| Aggravated assault | 354.2(449) | 364.2(434) | 349.7(429) | 359.7(450) | 274.0(350) |
| Property crime | 2803.7(3,554) | 2891.9(3,446) | 3533.7(4,335) | 3529.1(4,415) | 2900.9(3,706) |
| Burglary | 454.4(576) | 396.9(473) | 456.5(560) | 361.3(452) | 376.5(481) |
| Larceny | 2159.2(2,737) | 2253.3(2,685) | 2779.7(3,410) | 2849.7(3,565) | 2282.5(2,916) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 181.4(230) | 228.3(272) | 290.2(356) | 311.7(390) | 234.8(300) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Wilmington, NC 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 Wilmington 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 Wilmington calculated?
- Wilmington's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the North Carolina state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to North Carolina 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 Wilmington 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 North Carolina
Comparable North Carolina cities by population.
Compare Wilmington to other places
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