EL Paso's Quality of Life

Crime Rate

The National Crime Prevention Council announced that El Paso is one of "Six Safer Cities" across the nation.

El Paso’s crime rate generally is much lower than cities of similar size in the region. Money Magazine – December 1997, reports El Paso is ranked as the 3rd safest city in the United States among those with a population of over 500,000.

The Christian Science Monitor rated El Paso No. 1 in 1999. El Paso has the 2nd lowest crime rate among Texas cities with a population of more than 250,000, according to year-end statistics reported by the Department of Public Safety. The reported crimes per 100,000 people last year in El Paso and other regional cities are:

City	General Rate*
Albuquerque	11,307
Tucson	9,921
Dallas	9,467
Austin	7,866
Houston	7,636
El Paso	7,486
Denver	6,647
Crimes include murder, rape, robbery, assault, Property crime, and larceny and vehicle theft. Source: FBI EL Paso

Over the past five years, the number of reported crimes are as follows:

Crime	1997	1998	1999	% Change from 1997 to 1999
Criminal Homicide	24	17	14	-17.6%
Sexual Assault	225	241	185	-23.2%
Robbery	1,066	823	715	-13.1%
Assault	3,534	3,293	3,366	-2.2%
Burglary	3,251	2,632	2,496	-5.2%
Larceny	30,978	26,124	27,052	-3.6%
Vehicle Theft	3,571	2,657	2,307	-13.2%
Source: El Paso Times /El Paso Police Department 3/2000