Carteret County Crime & Safety

Carteret County has a total crime rate of 1820.0 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (237.0 per 100K) and property crimes (1583.0 per 100K).

Carteret County has a safety score of 26/100, rated "High Crime". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #54 out of 100 counties in North Carolina for safety (1 = safest).

With a safety score of 97.1, Carteret outperforms the state average of 96.8. Its total crime rate of 1,820.0 per 100K is also lower than the state’s typical 2,050.0 per 100K.

The local violent crime rate is 237.0 per 100K, which is significantly lower than the national average of 369.8. Property crime follows this trend at 1,583.0 per 100K, below the national 2,015.7.

Crime data for Carteret 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.

Carteret County has a safety score of 26/100, which is below the North Carolina average of 32/100. 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.