Crime in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton's crime rate

There were 7,024 crimes reported in Dayton, Ohio in 2019, the most recent year crime data is available. Adjusted for population, the city’s annual crime rate is 5,002 incidents for every 100,000 people.

How does Dayton compare?

Dayton has one of the highest overall crime rates of any U.S. city. For comparison, the national total crime rate is 2,489 incidents for every 100,000 people.

Dayton's overall crime rate is 113% higher than the overall crime rate in Ohio. Statewide, there were 274,560 crimes reported in 2019, or 2,349 for every 100,000 people.

What types of crimes are being committed?

The FBI's crime rate includes seven crime categories: three property crimes -- larceny, burglary, and motor vehicle theft, and four violent crimes -- aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder.

Property crime

The vast majority of crimes in America are property crimes, accounting for 85% of total crimes in 2019. In Dayton, however, property crimes account for only about 81% of all offenses.

Despite accounting for a smaller than average share of total offenses, property crime is more prevalent in Dayton than it is nationwide. There were 5,673 property crimes in Dayton in 2019, or 4,040 for every 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, the national property crime rate is 2,110 incidents per 100,000 people.

Larceny

Larceny is by far the most common type of property crime in the U.S. It is also the most commonly committed type of property crime in Dayton. There were 3,393 larcenies reported in Dayton in 2019, or 2,416 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the larceny rate is 1,550 per 100,000.

Burglary

There were 1,533 break-ins reported in Dayton in 2019, or 1,092 for every 100,000 residents. For reference, there were 341 reported burglaries for every 100,000 people nationwide in 2019.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Across the United States, the annual motor vehicle theft rate is 220 for every 100,000 people. In Dayton, meanwhile, there were 747 motor vehicle thefts in 2019, or 532 for every 100,000 people.

Violent crime

Violent crime accounts for a relatively small share of crimes nationwide. These offenses, which are generally more egregious than property crimes, account for about 15% of the nearly 8.2 million offenses reported across the U.S. in 2019. In Dayton, however, violent offenses account for a larger 19% share of all reported crime.

At 962 incidents for every 100,000 people, the violent crime rate in Dayton is well above the national violent crime rate of 379 offenses per 100,000 people. Law enforcement in Dayton reported a total of 1,351 violent crimes in 2019.

Aggravated Assault

Aggravated assault is by far the most common type of violent crime reported in the U.S. It is also the most commonly reported violent offense in Dayton. There were 756 aggravated assaults reported in Dayton in 2019, or 538 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the rate is far lower, standing at 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people.

Robbery

Robbery is the second most common type of violent crime in America. There were 347 robberies reported in Dayton in 2019, a rate of 247 robberies for every 100,000 residents. For comparison, the national robbery rate was 82 per 100,000 in 2019.

Rape

There were 200 rapes reported in Dayton in 2019, or 142 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, there were 139,815 rapes in 2019, a rate of 43 per 100,000 people.

Murder

There were 48 homicides committed in the city in 2019. Adjusted for population, the murder rate in Dayton is 34.2 murders for every 100,000 people, many times higher than the national murder rate of 5 per 100,000 people.

Dayton compared to other cities in Ohio

Dayton has a higher crime rate than the vast majority of all comparable cities in Ohio. To be considered comparable, a city must have a complete 2019 FBI crime report and population of 5,000 or more.

Here are all comparable cities ranked by total crime rate. Click any bar or city name to see more about crime in that city.

Click here to see a list of all city crime pages.

Click here to see a list of all state crime pages.

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