Is Nashville Safe in 2026? What the Crime Numbers Actually Say

You have probably heard someone say Nashville is getting more dangerous. Maybe a neighbor, maybe a headline, maybe a comment on a travel forum. It is one of the most common worries we hear from guests and property owners alike.

Here is the good news, backed by seven years of police data: violent crime in Nashville has fallen three years in a row and just hit its lowest level since 2019.

Below we break down what the numbers show, why so many residents still feel uneasy, and what it means whether you are visiting, investing, or living here.

Violent crime just hit a seven year low

In 2025, Davidson County recorded 7,287 violent crime incidents, according to the Sycamore Institute's public safety data dashboard. That is the lowest annual count since 2019, and the third straight year the number has dropped.

For context, violent crime here covers four categories: aggravated assault, robbery, homicide, and rape. Everything else, like auto theft and burglary, falls under property crime.

Up, then down, three years running

Nashville's violent crime did climb during the pandemic years. It peaked in 2022 at 9,052 incidents, the high point of the whole window.

Since then it has fallen every single year:

• 2022 to 2023: down 140 incidents

• 2023 to 2024: down 446 incidents

• 2024 to 2025: down 1,179 incidents

That last drop was a 14% decline in a single year, the largest year over year improvement in the recorded data.

That is 1,765 fewer incidents than the peak

Add the three years together and the trend is hard to miss. Nashville has gone from 9,052 violent incidents in 2022 to 7,287 in 2025.

That is a drop of roughly 19.5%, or 1,765 fewer incidents, in just three years. You can dig into the raw counts yourself through Metro Nashville Police Department's published crime statistics.

One in five crimes is violent

It also helps to know how much of Nashville's crime is violent in the first place. In 2025, only about 21% of all reported incidents fell into the violent category.

The other 79% were property crimes, mostly auto theft, burglary, and larceny. Four out of five incidents involve things, not people.

Crime fell, but confidence did not follow

Here is where the story gets interesting. Even as the numbers improved, residents reported feeling less safe, not more.

The share of Nashvillians who said they felt safe in the city dropped from 73% in 2024 to 67% in 2025, per the Nashville Police and Public Safety Alliance sentiment survey. Every confidence measure softened, and every concern measure rose.

So the data and the mood are moving in opposite directions. Both are real, and that gap has become the public safety conversation in Nashville.

"My street is fine, the city isn't"

There is a classic split underneath that unease. When asked whether crime is rising, 58% of residents said yes for the city as a whole.

But only 36% said the same about their own neighborhood. That is a 22 point gap between how people feel about their block and how they feel about Nashville at large.

The closer the question gets to home, the more optimistic the answer. If you are new to the city, our guide to six underrated neighborhoods beyond Broadway is a good place to get your bearings.

People worry most about their stuff

When you break the worry down by type, one category stands out. Concern for personal property hit 58% in 2025, up from 50% the year before.

Concern for personal safety sat at 33%, up from 29%. Nashvillians worry about their property nearly 1.76 times as much as they worry about themselves.

For anyone who owns or rents out a home here, that is useful. Property concern is the part of this picture you can do the most about.

What this means for you

The same data reads a little differently depending on where you stand:

• Visiting: Violent crime is at its lowest since 2019 and two thirds of residents still feel safe day to day. Travel the way you would in any midsize American city, and if you need more convincing, here is why 2026 is the perfect year to visit Nashville.

• Investing: The fundamentals are improving, with three straight years of decline. Since property concern is rising faster than personal concern, put your money into lighting, locks, and door code systems before the amenities guests love. The broader picture is in our 2026 Nashville STR market report.

• Living here: The story residents tell each other and the story the data tells have split apart. Knowing the gap exists is the first step to closing it.

The short version: Nashville is quietly getting safer, even if it does not always feel that way. The data has moved in the right direction for three years straight, and the biggest remaining worry, property, is also the most fixable one.

If you own a place here, a few smart upgrades go a long way toward peace of mind.

Talk to us about securing and managing your Nashville property →