Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2024
Madison, WI Crime Grade
How Madison grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of Wisconsin — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
7/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
Wisconsin
9/10
vs. Wisconsin cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2024, the violent crime rate in Madison, WI was 259.9 per 100,000 residents (733 incidents over a population of 282,045). That puts Madison Infinity% above the U.S. rate of 0.0 and 10% below the Wisconsin statewide rate of 287.6.
That ranks Madison #2,431 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 36% of them, and #76 of 89 in Wisconsin. Violent crime is down 14% year over year and down 20% over the last five years.
Madison, WI crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- C (7/10)
- Wisconsin Grade
- F (9/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 259.9 / 100k
- National rank
- #2,431 of 3,771
- WI rank
- #76 of 89
- Safer than
- 36% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 14%
- 5-year change
- down 20%
- Population
- 282,045
- Reporting agency
- Madison Police Department
- Data year
- 2024 · FBI UCR
Reported by Madison Police Department (FBI ORI WI0130100) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Madison (red), Wisconsin (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Madison vs. U.S., 2024 — 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 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 325.8(856) | 311.0(828) | 307.2(828) | 303.8(833) | 259.9(733) |
| Murder | 3.8(10) | 3.8(10) | 2.6(7) | 3.6(10) | 2.5(7) |
| Rape | 28.9(76) | 41.3(110) | 34.5(93) | 30.3(83) | 26.9(76) |
| Robbery | 63.2(166) | 53.0(141) | 42.3(114) | 43.8(120) | 33.7(95) |
| Aggravated assault | 229.9(604) | 213.0(567) | 227.8(614) | 226.1(620) | 196.8(555) |
| Property crime | 2792.5(7,337) | 2530.4(6,736) | 2417.4(6,516) | 2354.6(6,457) | 1884.5(5,315) |
| Burglary | 497.1(1,306) | 365.5(973) | 342.4(923) | 281.9(773) | 159.5(450) |
| Larceny | 2042.7(5,367) | 1892.6(5,038) | 1817.5(4,899) | 1872.5(5,135) | 1609.0(4,538) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 247.0(649) | 267.1(711) | 249.7(673) | 197.3(541) | 113.1(319) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Madison, WI 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 Madison 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 Madison calculated?
- Madison's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the Wisconsin state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to Wisconsin 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 Madison 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 Wisconsin
Comparable Wisconsin cities by population.
Compare Madison to other places
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