Crime rates for West Des Moines, IA

The crime rate in West Des Moines is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 37 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in West Des Moines is 1 in 27. Based on FBI crime data, West Des Moines is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Iowa, West Des Moines has a crime rate that is higher than 90% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

How does the crime rate in West Des Moines compare to similar sized city across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared West Des Moines with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether West Des Moines's crime rate is high or low compared to all places in the US, when we control for population size and compare it to places that are similar in size, it is near the middle of the pack in crime rate – not much more or less dangerous, and about what we would expect from the statistics.

The crime data that NeighborhoodScout used for this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined.

Now let us turn to take a look at how West Des Moines does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in West Des Moines.

NeighborhoodScout's research shows that West Des Moines's violent crime rate is 2 per one thousand inhabitants, which is about average for all communities in America, across all population sizes. Violent crimes that are tracked and included in this rate are armed robbery, aggravated assault, forcible (not statutory) rape, and murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Roughly similar to the national average, our analysis shows that your chance of becoming a victim of violent crime in West Des Moines is one in 520.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that West Des Moines's rate for property crime is 35 per one thousand population. This makes West Des Moines a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in West Des Moines is one in 28.