The crime rate in DeSoto is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 23 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 DeSoto is 1 in 44. Based on FBI crime data, DeSoto is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Texas, DeSoto has a crime rate that is higher than 81% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

How does the crime rate in DeSoto compare to similar sized communities across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared DeSoto with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether DeSoto'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.

Now let us turn to take a look at how DeSoto 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 DeSoto.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in DeSoto occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in DeSoto; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 326. This equates to a rate of 3 per one thousand inhabitants.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that DeSoto experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that DeSoto's rate for property crime is 20 per one thousand population. This makes DeSoto 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 DeSoto is one in 51.

Importantly, we found that DeSoto has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in DeSoto is one in 272.