How San Angelo Crime Rates Compare to Other West Texas Cities

Odessa has been dubbed the most dangerous city in Texas after the release of the most recent statistical crime data from the FBI, with San Angelo coming in at the opposite end of the spectrum as the second safest.

However, while the widely-publicized rankings highlight only the total violent crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants, a look at those rates for rape and homicide reveals that San Angelo actually reported a higher number of murder and non-negligent manslaughter incidents per 100,000 in 2013 than Odessa, Midland, Lubbock, Abilene and Amarillo, and fell only behind Amarillo in the rate for rape.

In 2013, law enforcement agencies in San Angelo reported two homicides and 54 rapes, numbers very close to Odessa’s two homicides and 56 rapes or Abilene’s one murder and 37 rapes.

The crime data is compiled on an annual basis and is submitted to the FBI by law enforcement agencies, and rates are determined based on population. The population listed for the city of San Angelo in 2013 is 96,661. When expanding to include all of Tom Green County and Irion County that number jumps to 116,215.

When averaged per 100,000 inhabitants, San Angelo’s murder rate 4.3 and rape rate is 62.8, both higher than Odessa (2 and 39.3) and Abilene (0.6 and 25.6), who have larger populations.

Robbery and aggravated assault, the other two types of crimes classed under “violent,” are much more prevalent in all five of the other west Texas cities than in San Angelo, who reported some 22 robberies and 185 aggravated assaults in 2013.

Odessa, Amarillo and Lubbock all leapt ahead of those margins, reporting between 143 and 388 robberies each and between 821 and 1,348 aggravated assaults.

Overall, Odessa had the highest violent crime rate—both in west Texas and in the state—at 806.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. Lubbock ranked second statewide at a rate of 658, and the third city on this side of the state was Amarillo (#5 statewide) at a rate of 524.4. Abilene came in at a distant #15 on the state’s list at a rate of 333.1, followed by Midland at #18 for the state at 280.5 and San Angelo at #22 (of 23 metro areas measured total) with a rate of 257.3 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants.

When it comes to property crimes, San Angelo leapt up the list to spot #10 in the state with a rate of 3,443.60 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. The high property crime rate, which includes burglary, theft and car theft, put our city above major metro centers such as El Paso, DFW, Austin, Waco and Amarillo.

Odessa dropped behind San Antonio in the property crime category for #2 in the state at a rate of 4,277.4, followed by Lubbock at spot #5 with a rate of 4,247.4. San Angelo ranked third in relation to west Texas cities, but tenth for the state, followed by Amarillo at spot #11 with a rate of 3,426.4 Abilene’s 2013 rate put them at spot #15 with a rate of 3,284.6, and Midland occupied spot #20 (of 23) with a rate of 2,638.4.

Below are the numbers reported by Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock Midland, Odessa and San Angelo for 2013. The rate is the number of crimes committed per 100,000 inhabitants.