Kentucky Crime Statistics


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Steve Bennett
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Kentucky Crime Statistics 2025: Facts about Crime in Kentucky reflect the current socio-economic condition of the state.

kentucky

LLCBuddy editorial team did hours of research, collected all important statistics on Kentucky Crime, and shared those on this page. Our editorial team proofread these to make the data as accurate as possible. We believe you don’t need to check any other resources on the web for the same. You should get everything here only 🙂

Are you planning to start a Kentucky LLC business in 2025? Maybe for educational purposes, business research, or personal curiosity, whatever it is – it’s always a good idea to gather more information.

How much of an impact will Kentucky Crime Statistics have on your day-to-day? or the day-to-day of your LLC Business? How much does it matter directly or indirectly? You should get answers to all your questions here.

Please read the page carefully and don’t miss any word.

Top Kentucky Crime Statistics 2025

☰ Use “CTRL+F” to quickly find statistics. There are total 23 Kentucky Crime Statistics on this page 🙂

Kentucky Crime “Latest” Statistics

  • FBI statistics show that 1.3 million violent crimes were recorded in total in 2020, or 388 per 100,000 inhabitants, a 5% rise over 2019.[1]
  • Kentuckians reported having had less violent crime and property crime year over year compared to survey findings from prior years, but their experience with gun violence increased from 3% to 7%.[2]
  • 48% of Kentuckians, compared to the national average of 41%, are worried about violent crime.[2]
  • The overall crime rate has reduced by 15.2% nationally during the five years since 2014, but state-by-state changes have been quite different.[3]
  • Although Kentucky’s violent crime rate is among the lowest in the nation and below the national and regional norms, it rose by 18% from one year earlier.[2]
  • 78% of Kentuckians feel that crime is rising.[2]
  • Kentucky has the third lowest rate of a larceny theft in the U.S., accounting for 66% of all property crimes, which is lower than the national average of 71%.[2]
  • After increasing by almost a nation-leading 19.3% year over year, Kentucky now has 259 violent crimes per 100,000 residents.[1]
  • 1% of Kentucky citizens, the lowest number overall, believe that crime is declining.[2]
  • At the University of Kentucky, possession-related arrests were made in almost 9.5% of the instances involving crime and safety.[4]
  • In Kentucky, violent crime makes up 13% of all crimes, which is less than the national average of 17%.[2]
  • The violent crime rate weighted these by 50%, 25% for the property crime rate, and 25% for the law enforcement rate.[5]
  • Violent crime climbed by 18% in Kentucky, which is the fourth.[2]
  • 423 law enforcement agencies, representing 99% of the population, reported 9,820 violent crime occurrences and 11,349 crimes in Kentucky in 2020.[6]
  • 22% of Kentuckians claimed to have experienced a property crime in the 12 months prior to the survey, down from 32% the last year.[2]
  • Only three states, including Kentucky, have murder and negligent manslaughter account for 3% or more of all violent crimes.[2]
  • In Kentucky, the crime rate in 2015 increased by 3.84% from 2014 to 223.45 crimes committed per 100,000 people.[7]

Kentucky Crime “Other” Statistics

  • Kentucky saw about 15,443 break-ins in 2019, or 346 per 100,000 population, ranking as the 23rd highest rate among all states.[3]
  • While they grew 13% nationally, the number of mass shooting incidents declined by 60% year over year in Kentucky.[2]
  • 75.3% of all criminal and safety problems at the school result from disciplinary proceedings.[4]
  • 2020 saw a 46.2% rise in murders in the state compared to the previous year when there were 221 murders in total.[1]
  • Burglaries decreased by 7.4%, larceny thefts decreased by 10.6%, and motor vehicle thefts rose by 11.8%.[6]
  • 60% of Kentucky’s 20 safest cities rose by ten spots or more from 2021.[2]

Also Read

How Dangerous is Kentucky Crime

What fuels the shifts in crime across Kentucky? For me, the most interesting aspect of this state is the interplay between different types of violent crime, property crime, and factors unique to each region. My perception is that crime rates come and go because of a mixture of socioeconomic circumstances, enforcement practices, and local civic participation. For example, people living in areas with greater poverty tend to commit more crimes, particularly property crimes, because of dire economic conditions.

In my theoretical framework, the urban-rural gap is a critical driver of the observed crime phenomena. The urban centers, like Louisville and Lexington, tend to report greater instances of violent than rural areas. Their differences are explained in part by population density, which increases opportunities for crime but also makes policing more difficult. Cities may face challenges with violent gang activity or drug use, which affects their violent crime rates.

On the other hand, property crime is much more prevalent within suburban areas, where residential burglaries and motor vehicle thefts may occur unnoticed. I have noticed that homicide rates tend to drop when citizens become more involved in neighborhood watch programs and active local policing. But, when community ties become weakened, I have noticed a rise, demonstrating the importance of social bonds.

Also, outside elements such as falling economies can increase crime rates. For example, I have noted an increase in violent and property crimes during economic downturns due to heightened desperation. The COVID-19 pandemic added another layer to these complexities by increasing unemployment which heightened certain crimes.

Reference

  1. thecentersquare – https://www.thecentersquare.com/kentucky/how-the-violent-crime-rate-in-kentucky-compares-to-other-states/article_4caed45e-d3e2-5cde-8c36-94b619e2ea49.html
  2. safewise – https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-kentucky/
  3. 247wallst – https://247wallst.com/state/crime-in-kentucky/
  4. collegefactual – https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/university-of-kentucky/student-life/crime/
  5. backgroundchecks – https://backgroundchecks.org/safest-cities-in-kentucky.html
  6. wsaz – https://www.wsaz.com/2021/09/27/violent-crimes-increase-kentucky-during-pandemic-highest-level-since-2008/
  7. macrotrends – https://www.macrotrends.net/states/kentucky/crime-rate-statistics

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