Bennington County Crime & Safety

Bennington County has a total crime rate of 1870.0 per 100,000 residents, based on FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data. This includes both violent crimes (340.2 per 100K) and property crimes (1529.8 per 100K).

Bennington County has a safety score of 25/100, rated "High Crime". A higher safety score indicates lower crime rates relative to other counties nationwide. It ranks #11 out of 14 counties in Vermont for safety (1 = safest).

The county's total crime rate is higher than the Vermont state average of 1,397.0 per 100,000 residents. However, its safety score of 97.0 is nearly identical to the state's overall high safety profile of 97.8.

The local violent crime rate sits at 340.2 per 100,000, which is slightly lower than the national figure of 369.8. Property crime makes up the bulk of incidents at 1,529.8, roughly three-quarters of the national average.

Crime data for Bennington 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.

Bennington County has a safety score of 25/100, which is below the Vermont average of 46/100. 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.