CurrentCrimeMap

Data through August 2026, Columbus Police Department

Crime in Columbus, OH

The violent crime rate in Columbus is 355 per 100,000 residents per year over the 12 months to August 2026, 19% below the average of the 302 cities and county areas we cover. That is −13% compared with the previous 12 months.

Downtown Columbus, Ohio, seen from the Main Street Bridge.
Photo: Paul Wasneski, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The numbers

12 months to Aug 2026

Violent crime

355 per 100,000 residents, per year

3,340 reported in the 12 months to Aug 2026

−13% vs. the previous 12 months

Property crime

2,374 per 100,000 residents, per year

22,317 reported in the 12 months to Aug 2026

−13% vs. the previous 12 months

All reported

2,729 per 100,000 residents, per year

25,657 reported in the 12 months to Aug 2026

Annual rates: reported incidents over the last 12 months per 100,000 residents (population 940,106, U.S. Census).

What counts as violent and property crime

Counted the FBI's way, the same for every city: violent crime is homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime is burglary, theft, vehicle theft and arson. Simple assault is not counted as violent. How we count

Where Columbus sits among covered places

violent, per 100k, per year

355

Columbus has the 153rd-highest rate of the 302 cities and county areas on this site, higher than 149 of the other 301.

Carmel 51avg 437Detroit 1,632

The ring is Columbus; the tick is the average of all 302 cities and county areas.

PlaceViolent per 100kRank
Fargo, ND360148
St. Lucie County, FL (Sheriff)359149
Columbia, MO358150
Brownsville, TX357151
Bradenton, FL355152
Columbus, OH355153
Huntsville, AL351154
Chula Vista, CA351155
Sioux Falls, SD347156
Miami, FL345157
Arlington, TX345158

The places closest to Columbus in the ranking, highest rate first. See all 302 cities and county areas

Columbus crime map

official map linked
Loading map…

SaferHigher rateViolent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, for each whole city. The colors are not crime locations.

The FBI publishes citywide totals from Columbus Police Department, not where each crime happened, so this map fills Columbus, OH with its whole-city rate instead of plotting crimes. The nearest covered cities are more than 60 miles away: zoom out to see them, or use the table below.

For where incidents happened, Columbus Police Department publishes its own map of recent incidents; it is linked under Official map.

Of the 8 covered cities nearest Columbus, 7 have a higher violent crime rate and 1 a lower one. The closest is Dayton, OH, 66 miles away.

Columbus and the covered places nearest to it, with each one’s violent crime rate and distance
PlaceViolent per 100kDistance
Columbus, OH355
Dayton, OH1,25466 mi
Cincinnati, OH835100 mi
Akron, OH755108 mi
Toledo, OH764120 mi
Cleveland, OH1,251124 mi
Kanawha County, WV (Sheriff)County area, not drawn on the map433134 mi
Charleston, WV568134 mi
Fort Wayne, IN276137 mi
About the colors and distances

Colors use the same scale as the rest of the site, from the lowest to the highest violent crime rate among the 302 cities and county areas we cover. City outlines from the U.S. Census Bureau. Distances are straight-line, between city centers.

Reported crime by type

12 months to Aug 2026
OffenseReportedPer 100kvs. previous monthvs. a year earlier
HomicideViolent606.4—−37%
About these categories

The FBI publishes city totals by family, not a full breakdown by offence, so homicide is the only type Columbus Police Department reports separately here. Red means more than before, green means fewer. “Not yet” means the site does not have that month from a year earlier.

Month by month

Sep 2025 to Aug 2026

Violent crime −13%

0200400600SepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAug290325
Violent crimes per month in Columbus, OH, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 and a year earlier
MonthViolent crimesMonth a year earlierViolent crimes
Sep 2025319Sep 2024420
Oct 2025301Oct 2024357
Nov 2025266Nov 2024320
Dec 2025305Dec 2024328
Jan 2026215Jan 2025323
Feb 2026223Feb 2025246
Mar 2026277Mar 2025281
Apr 2026285Apr 2025281
May 2026300May 2025358
Jun 2026259Jun 2025307
Jul 2026300Jul 2025278
Aug 2026290Aug 2025325

Homicides −37%

051015SepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAug28
Homicides per month in Columbus, OH, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 and a year earlier
MonthHomicidesMonth a year earlierHomicides
Sep 20257Sep 202410
Oct 20257Oct 20248
Nov 202510Nov 202414
Dec 20259Dec 202412
Jan 20263Jan 20257
Feb 20261Feb 20254
Mar 20263Mar 20252
Apr 20264Apr 20256
May 20265May 202513
Jun 20263Jun 20257
Jul 20266Jul 20255
Aug 20262Aug 20258

27 in 2026 through August, 52 in the same months of 2025. Compare with other places

Every month since Sep 2023
Reported crime per month in Columbus, OH
MonthViolentPropertyHomicides
Aug 20262901,4762
Jul 20263002,0306
Jun 20262592,1743
May 20263001,9095
Apr 20262851,8354
Mar 20262771,8533
Feb 20262231,5881
Jan 20262151,6383
Dec 20253051,9699
Nov 20252661,79610
Oct 20253012,0287
Sep 20253192,0217
Aug 20253252,0378
Jul 20252782,0835
Jun 20253071,9747
May 20253582,09713
Apr 20252811,9836
Mar 20252812,1542
Feb 20252461,8784
Jan 20253231,8517
Dec 20243282,44312
Nov 20243202,33414
Oct 20243572,4768
Sep 20244202,24010
Aug 20244132,46413
Jul 20243812,4086
Jun 20243952,39416
May 20244502,48311
Apr 20244032,2309
Mar 20243412,2365
Feb 20243242,1379
Jan 20243152,4914
Dec 20233072,2858
Nov 20233472,5117
Oct 20233792,7329
Sep 20233842,55215

How Columbus compares

per 100k, per year

Similar size

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
33Indianapolis, IN8282,884903,574Oct 2025
95Jacksonville, FL5242,1331,008,920Jul 2026
102Charlotte, NC4993,0181,035,037Sep 2026
107San Francisco, CA4862,960815,330Dec 2025
114San Jose, CA4632,359994,435Jul 2026
124Austin, TX4102,891961,855Sep 2026
153Columbus, OH3552,374940,106Aug 2026
170Fort Worth, TX3251,9721,030,410Aug 2026
236Honolulu, HI1871,521987,000Nov 2025
252Montgomery County, MD (County Police)1481,476924,573Jun 2026

The 10 places closest to Columbus in population, Columbus included, highest violent crime rate first.

Same state

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
9Dayton, OH1,2544,065136,047Aug 2026
10Cleveland, OH1,2513,527363,659Aug 2026
32Cincinnati, OH8353,468316,260Sep 2026
43Toledo, OH7642,437264,490Jun 2026
44Akron, OH7552,397189,545Aug 2026
153Columbus, OH3552,374940,106Aug 2026

All 6 places in Ohio on this site, highest violent crime rate first.

Nearby

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to
9Dayton, OH1,2544,065136,047Aug 2026
10Cleveland, OH1,2513,527363,659Aug 2026
32Cincinnati, OH8353,468316,260Sep 2026
43Toledo, OH7642,437264,490Jun 2026
44Akron, OH7552,397189,545Aug 2026
82Charleston, WV5683,66945,958Sep 2026
117Kanawha County, WV (Sheriff)4331,28783,074Jul 2026
153Columbus, OH3552,374940,106Aug 2026
188Fort Wayne, IN2761,808275,451Jan 2026
226Lexington, KY2162,035330,994Jul 2026

The 9 places on this site closest to Columbus by distance, highest violent crime rate first.

#PlaceViolentPropertyResidentsData to

Figures are what each agency reports to the FBI, over the last 12 months it has reported in full, so the months differ. See all 302 cities and county areas in the rankings

Compare Columbus side by side with Cleveland, Cincinnati or Austin, or with any other place.

Other cities in Ohio

5 city pages, closest first

Ohio as a whole has 277 violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year, as reported to the FBI over the 12 months to Jun 2026; Columbus’s rate is 28% above the state’s.

DaytonCincinnatiAkronToledoCleveland

All 6 cities in Ohio

Common questions

answered with the data above
Is Columbus safe?

By reported violent crime, Columbus is below the average of the 302 cities and county areas on this site: 355 violent crimes per 100,000 residents per year over the 12 months to August 2026, −13% versus the previous 12 months. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood, so the citywide figure is only a starting point.

Is there a crime map for Columbus?

Yes, from the police itself: Columbus Police Department publishes its own map of recent incidents (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/71e99eb6fb704a67a7aa152451c83b9b). The figures on this page come from the FBI, which receives city totals rather than locations, so CurrentCrimeMap shows how Columbus compares with nearby places such as Dayton, OH instead of a street-level map.

What is the crime rate in Columbus?

355 violent and 2,374 property crimes per 100,000 residents per year, based on 25,657 incidents reported to Columbus Police Department over the 12 months to August 2026.

Is crime in Columbus going up or down?

It is going down: violent crime −13% and property crime −13% over the last 12 months compared with the 12 months before.

How many homicides has Columbus had in 2026?

Columbus Police Department reported 27 homicides from January to August 2026, the latest month it has reported in full, against 52 in the same months of 2025. Over the 12 months to Aug 2026 the count was 60, or 6 per 100,000 residents.

Where does the data come from?

From Columbus Police Department, via FBI Crime Data Explorer (dataset OHCOP0000). We count reported incidents by month and offense type and divide by the Census population. Reported crime undercounts actual crime; see the methodology page for what the numbers leave out.

Moving to or visiting Columbus

12 months to August 2026

What these numbers leave out: most crime never reaches the police. In the federal victim survey (BJS, 2024), about half of violent crimes and less than a third of property crimes were reported, and only a quarter of everyday thefts. Rates are per resident, so busy downtowns and tourist areas look worse than they are for the people who visit them.

The official source is FBI Crime Data Explorer. For what to look for, and what not to read into a rate, see how to read US crime numbers.

Source and dates

OHCOP0000
Source
Columbus Police Department, via FBI Crime Data Explorer (dataset OHCOP0000)
Latest complete month
August 2026
History on this site
September 2023 to August 2026 (44 months)
Update schedule
Columbus Police Department reports monthly to the FBI under the national NIBRS standard. We refresh every morning and publish the most recent 12 months the agency has reported in full.
Download
Monthly counts by offense (JSON)