Lancaster County Crime & Safety

Lancaster County has a total crime rate of 3133.9 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (374.5 per 100K) and property crimes (2759.4 per 100K).

Lancaster County has a safety score of 7/100, rated "High Crime". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #92 out of 93 counties in Nebraska for safety (1 = safest).

The county sits below the state average safety score of 99.0. Its total crime rate is nearly five times higher than Nebraska’s state average of 626.7.

Property crime is the primary issue, occurring at a rate of 2,759.4 per 100,000 residents. This indicates that most local incidents involve theft or burglary rather than physical harm.

Crime data for Lancaster 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.

Lancaster County has a safety score of 7/100, which is below the Nebraska average of 74/100. Many counties with above-average crime rates invest in community policing, crime prevention programs, neighborhood watch initiatives, and social services aimed at reducing crime over time.