What is the crime rate in Bristol, VA?

In 2025, the Bristol Police Department reported 80 violent crimes and 433 property crimes to the FBI.

That is 496 violent and 2,686 property crimes per 100,000 of the 16,121 residents it serves.

Across Virginia the rates were 211 and 1,395.

Nationally they were 330 and 1,552.

Figures last updated on November 12, 2026.

Violent per 100,000: 496
Property per 100,000: 2,686
Violent crimes: 80
Property crimes: 433

Crime reported by the Bristol Police Department, 2023 to 2025

Offenses known to law enforcement, reported to the FBI; rates per 100,000 residents of the area the department serves
Year	Violent crimes	Violent per 100,000	Property crimes	Property per 100,000	Residents served
2023	86	511	654	3,886	16,831
2024	74	441	510	3,040	16,775
2025	80	496	433	2,686	16,121

Violent crimes reported went from 86 in 2023 to 80 in 2025.

Property crimes reported went from 654 in 2023 to 433 in 2025.

In a small town a handful of incidents moves these numbers a long way, so one year’s change says little on its own.

Bristol against Virginia and the nation

Crimes per 100,000 residents, 2025
	Violent crime	Property crime
Bristol	496	2,686
Bristol city	496	2,686
Virginia	211	1,395
United States	330	1,552

These are rates per resident; they are not adjusted for visitors, commuters or the size of the area, which raise or lower a town’s figures without changing anybody’s risk.

Crime reported in places near Bristol, 2025

Each place’s own police department; rates per 100,000 residents served
Place	Distance	Violent per 100,000	Property per 100,000
Bristol	—	496	2,686
Bristol	5.2 mi	357	1,919
Abingdon	12 mi	145	1,337
Bluff City	13 mi	488	1,411
Elizabethton	20 mi	270	2,174
Lebanon	20 mi	130	2,079
Mountain City	22 mi	280	1,398
Kingsport	22 mi	572	2,224

Neighboring departments count the same offenses the same way, but their areas, populations and visitors differ, so a difference between two towns is a starting point for a question, not an answer.

How to read these numbers

These are offenses known to the police and reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program: crimes nobody reported, or that a department did not record, are not in them.

Violent crime is murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crime is burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

A department reports the crimes in the area it polices, which can differ from the town’s boundaries, and the FBI estimates the population it serves.

The FBI asks that these figures not be used to rank places or to judge how safe a neighborhood is: crime depends on many local factors, and the counts describe a whole town, not any street or home.

A year is shown only when the department reported all twelve months.

FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting statistics and their proper use

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