Salem, VA Crime Statistics For 2025

Demographics | Crime | Cost Of Living
Updated: 2025-10-24

Crime Rate In Salem, VA Summary

Crime in Salem research summary. HomeSnacks has been using Saturday Night Science to report crime data in Salem over the past eight years using the FBI Crime Explorer. Based on the most recently available data released on October 17, 2023, we found the following about crime in Salem:

  • There were 499 total crimes committed in Salem in the last reporting year.
  • On a rate basis, there were 1,948.8 total crimes per 100K people in Salem.
  • The overall crime rate in Salem is -8.04% below the national average.
  • Salem ranks #76 safest out of 133 cities in Virginia.
  • Salem ranks #7,108 safest out of 9,896 cities in the United States.

Because the crime rate is so low in America, we use "per 100,000 people" to make the number a bit easier to compare across locations visually. It's mathematically the same as per capita comparisons and isn't meant to convey that 100,000+ people live in a location.

Additional research about crime in Virginia

Salem Vs Virginia And National Crime Rates

According to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in Salem is 1,948.8 per 100,000 people. That's -8.04% lower than the national rate of 2,119.2 per 100,000 people and 9.02% higher than the Virginia total crime rate of 1,787.6 per 100,000 people.

Statistic Count
Raw
Salem
/ 100k People
Virginia
/ 100k People
National
/ 100k People
Total Crimes Per 100K 499 1,948.8 1,787.6 2,119.2
Murder 0 0.0 4.8 5.0
Robbery 5 19.5 33.1 61.0
Aggravated Assault 12 46.9 152.2 256.0
Violent Crime 22 85.9 217.9 359.0
Burglary 66 257.8 108.7 229.0
Larceny 379 1,480.1 1,315.9 1,272.0
Car Theft 32 125.0 145.1 259.0
Property Crime 477 1,862.8 1,569.7 1,760.0

Salem Crime Compared To Virginia Averages

Each category of crime indexed to the worst per capita in Virginia.
Data Source -- FBI UCR 2024.

Violent Crime Rates In Salem

22
Violent Crimes
85.9
Violent Crimes / 100k People
-76.07%
Below The National Average
  • There were 22 violent crimes in Salem in the last reporting year.
  • The violent crime rate in Salem is 85.9 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 1,163.9 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Salem each year. That compares to a 1 in 458.9 chance statewide.
  • That's -76.07% lower than the national rate of 359.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And -60.57% lower than the Virginia violent crime rate of 217.9 per 100,000 people.

Property Crime Rates In Salem

477
Property Crimes
1,862.8
Property Crimes / 100k People
5.84%
Above The National Average
  • There were 477 property crimes in Salem in the last reporting year.
  • The property crime rate in Salem is 1,862.8 per 100,000 people.
  • You have a 1 in 53.7 chance of being the victim of a property crime in Salem each year. That compares to a 1 in 0.0 chance nationally.
  • That's 5.84% higher than the national rate of 1,760.0 per 100,000 people.
  • And 18.68% higher than the Virginia property crime rate of 1,569.7 per 100,000 people.

Crime In Cities Around Salem

City Population Count
Raw
Total Crime
/ 100k People
Property Crime
/ 100k People
Violent Crime
/ 100k People
Roanoke, VA 97,027 4,537 4,676.0 4,055.6 620.4
Lynchburg, VA 80,339 1,683 2,094.9 1,737.6 357.2
Blacksburg, VA 45,734 362 791.5 715.0 76.5
Christiansburg, VA 22,297 629 2,821.0 2,596.8 224.2
Radford, VA 17,399 194 1,115.0 902.4 212.7
Vinton, VA 8,044 154 1,914.5 1,765.3 149.2
Lexington, VA 7,656 45 587.8 457.2 130.6
Buena Vista, VA 6,598 25 378.9 333.4 45.5

Salem SnackAbility

7
/10
Overall SnackAbility
Jobs
8/10
Housing
8
Affordability
8
Diversity
7
Safety
8
Amenities
8.5
Education
8
Commute
9
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