The crime rate in Jefferson is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 16 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Jefferson is 1 in 62. Based on FBI crime data, Jefferson is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Iowa, Jefferson has a crime rate that is higher than 88% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

Importantly, when you compare Jefferson to other communities of similar population, then Jefferson crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Jefferson does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Jefferson does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Jefferson.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Jefferson occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Jefferson; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 522. This equates to a rate of 2 per one thousand inhabitants.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Jefferson's rate for property crime is 14 per one thousand population. This makes Jefferson a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Jefferson is one in 71.