Introduction
Colorado’s crime has risen to one of the highest rates in the nation in the past ten years. As of 2022, Colorado ranked 4
th highest nationally for combined property and violent crime rates according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data. This is a dramatic decrease from the 2012 ranking of 31
st. Both property and violent crime rates have risen steadily since the early 2010s, speeding up in the early 2020s. The state ranked 3
rd in the nation for property crime rates and 8
th in the nation for violent crime rates.
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Crime Rate in Colorado.
According to data from Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the average monthly crime rate is still exceedingly high—over 500 incidents per 100,000 residents (the peak of 586.2 per 100,000). Motor vehicle crime is 123.3% higher than the 18.9 per 100,000 prior to 2014 when the state legislature lowered the penalties for property theft. However, since 2021, crimes against persons fell 6.3%, property crimes declined 17.6%, and crimes against society dropped 8.2%.
Crime Rate in Colorado Relative to the U.S. and in Neighboring Western States.
Despite the crime rate decrease between 2021 and 2022, the state’s crime rates still outpace the nation’s and neighboring states. Colorado’s crime rate is higher 56% higher than for the U.S. overall, and it is higher than seven of its neighboring states. Only in New Mexico is the crime rate higher than Colorado’s (3%).
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Colorado is the only state among its eight neighbors to have seen the crime rate increase from 2012 to 2022, having risen 21.6%. On average, crime rates in neighboring states fell 28% over the same period. For the U.S. overall, the crime rates decreased 28.3%.
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Crime Rate in Colorado’s Cities Relative to Other U.S. Cities.
The following table shows the crime rates for 10 major crime categories in 13 Colorado cities as of the second quarter of 2022 and 2023. Crime categories where the city ranks in the top 10% of the 226 cities that reported to the FBI are highlighted in orange. In 2023, seven cities rank in the top 10% in at least one category of crime. Pueblo ranks in the top 10% in every category of crime and Denver ranks in the top 10% in seven of the ten categories. Denver ranks 3
rd in property crime, 4
th in motor vehicle thefts, and 20
th in both aggravated assault and overall violent crime.
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