Howard County Crime & Safety

Howard County has a total crime rate of 917.0 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (276.1 per 100K) and property crimes (640.9 per 100K).

Howard County has a safety score of 60/100, rated "Average". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #36 out of 115 counties in Missouri for safety (1 = safest).

Howard County outperforms the Missouri average safety score of 97.0 by a notable margin. Two reporting agencies document a crime rate that is less than half the state average.

Violent crime in Howard County is just 276.1 per 100K, while property crime sits at 640.9. These numbers represent a fraction of the crime seen in typical American counties.

Crime data for Howard County comes from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Local law enforcement agencies submit data on violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) to the FBI. Rates are calculated per 100,000 residents to allow fair comparison between counties of different sizes. The safety score (0-100) is derived from these rates, with higher scores indicating safer counties.

Howard County has a safety score of 60/100, which is above the Missouri average of 44/100. Factors such as local law enforcement effectiveness, community programs, socioeconomic conditions, and population density all contribute to lower crime rates in certain counties.