Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Bristol, VA Crime Grade
How Bristol grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Virginia — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
9/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Virginia
9/10
vs. Virginia cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Bristol, VA was 502.5 per 100,000 residents (81 incidents over a population of 16,121). That puts Bristol 54% above the U.S. rate of 325.3 and 147% above the Virginia statewide rate of 203.3.
That ranks Bristol #3,281 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 13% of them, and #34 of 39 in Virginia. Violent crime is up 15% year over year and up 29% over the last five years.
Bristol, VA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (9/10)
- Virginia Grade
- F (9/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 502.5 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,281 of 3,771
- VA rank
- #34 of 39
- Safer than
- 13% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- up 15%
- 5-year change
- up 29%
- Population
- 16,121
- Reporting agency
- Bristol Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Bristol Police Department (FBI ORI VA1000000) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
About Bristol, VA
Also known as
- Goodson
- Sappling Grove
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. Bristol (red), Virginia (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Bristol 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 | 388.1(67) | 372.6(63) | 511.0(86) | 435.2(73) | 502.5(81) |
| Murder | 5.8(1) | 11.8(2) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) | 0.0(0) |
| Rape | 104.3(18) | 82.8(14) | 47.5(8) | 89.4(15) | 111.7(18) |
| Robbery | 34.8(6) | 29.6(5) | 71.3(12) | 35.8(6) | 31.0(5) |
| Aggravated assault | 243.3(42) | 248.4(42) | 392.1(66) | 310.0(52) | 359.8(58) |
| Property crime | 2143.1(370) | 2679.0(453) | 3909.5(658) | 3046.2(511) | 2710.7(437) |
| Burglary | 278.0(48) | 289.8(49) | 332.7(56) | 292.1(49) | 148.9(24) |
| Larceny | 1511.7(261) | 2123.1(359) | 3321.3(559) | 2563.3(430) | 2382.0(384) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 318.6(55) | 266.1(45) | 255.5(43) | 172.9(29) | 173.7(28) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Bristol, VA 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 Bristol 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 Bristol calculated?
- Bristol's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Virginia state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Virginia 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 Bristol 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 Virginia
Comparable Virginia cities by population.
Compare Bristol to other places
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