Crime in El Paso, Texas

El Paso's crime rate

There were 12,800 crimes reported in El Paso, Texas in 2019, the most recent year crime data is available. Adjusted for population, the city’s annual crime rate is 1,864 incidents for every 100,000 people.

How does El Paso compare?

El Paso has a lower overall crime rate than the country as a whole. For comparison, the national total crime rate is 2,489 incidents for every 100,000 people.

El Paso's overall crime rate is 34% lower than the overall crime rate in Texas. Statewide, there were 814,678 crimes reported in 2019, or 2,810 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 El Paso, however, property crimes account for only about 81% of all offenses.

Property crime is less prevalent in El Paso than it is nationwide. There were 10,378 property crimes in El Paso in 2019, or 1,511 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 El Paso. There were 8,479 larcenies reported in El Paso in 2019, or 1,235 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the larceny rate is 1,550 per 100,000.

Burglary

There were 1,048 break-ins reported in El Paso in 2019, or 153 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 El Paso, meanwhile, there were 851 motor vehicle thefts in 2019, or 124 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 El Paso, however, violent offenses account for a larger 19% share of all reported crime.

At 353 incidents for every 100,000 people, the violent crime rate in El Paso is below the national violent crime rate of 379 offenses per 100,000 people. Law enforcement in El Paso reported a total of 2,422 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 El Paso. There were 1,734 aggravated assaults reported in El Paso in 2019, or 253 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, the rate is similar, standing at 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 people.

Robbery

Robbery is the second most common type of violent crime in America. There were 338 robberies reported in El Paso in 2019, a rate of 49 robberies for every 100,000 residents. For comparison, the national robbery rate was 82 per 100,000 in 2019.

Rape

There were 310 rapes reported in El Paso in 2019, or 45 for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, there were 139,815 rapes in 2019, a rate of 43 per 100,000 people.

Murder

There were 40 homicides committed in the city in 2019. Adjusted for population, the murder rate in El Paso is 5.8 murders for every 100,000 people, higher than the national murder rate of 5 per 100,000 people.

El Paso compared to other cities in Texas

El Paso has a lower crime rate than the majority of all comparable cities in Texas. 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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