The crime rate in Lynchburg is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 28 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 Lynchburg is 1 in 35. Based on FBI crime data, Lynchburg is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Virginia, Lynchburg has a crime rate that is higher than 89% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

Importantly, when you compare Lynchburg to other communities of similar population, then Lynchburg crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Lynchburg 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 Lynchburg 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 Lynchburg.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Lynchburg 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 Lynchburg; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 279. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Lynchburg experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Lynchburg's rate for property crime is 25 per one thousand population. This makes Lynchburg 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 Lynchburg is one in 41.

Importantly, we found that Lynchburg has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in Lynchburg is one in 260.