The honest answer: Nashville is safer than the crime statistics make it look, but not as safe as the tourism industry would have you believe. That gap between perception and reality is where most visitors go wrong.
What the Numbers Actually Show
FBI crime data for 2024 placed Nashville’s violent crime rate at roughly 1,102 per 100,000 residents, about 198 percent higher than the national average. Property crime sat at 3,825 per 100,000, roughly 96 percent above national figures. On paper, those numbers are alarming.
But 2025 brought something unusual: across nearly every crime category, Nashville posted historic lows. Violent crime fell nearly 14 percent from 2024. Robberies dropped 26 percent, reaching the lowest count since 1969 at 866 incidents. Burglaries hit 2,524, the lowest total in Metro Nashville government history, down 13 percent from the prior year. Homicides finished around 74, the lowest total since 2014 according to the District Attorney’s office. This is not a blip. It follows a multi-year downward trend that accelerated after the COVID-era crime surge.
The reason Nashville’s aggregate crime rate still looks high: the city’s statistics include areas that tourists and most residents never encounter. The data is a citywide number applied to a wildly uneven geographic reality.
Where Crime Is Actually Concentrated
Nashville’s violent crime clusters in specific corridors, primarily parts of North Nashville, South Nashville around Antioch, and portions of Bordeaux. These areas have limited tourist infrastructure and most visitors never set foot there.
The neighborhoods visitors actually use, Broadway and downtown, The Gulch, Germantown, East Nashville’s Five Points area, 12 South, and Midtown, all have crime rates substantially below the city average. Downtown has the heaviest police presence in Tennessee, with dedicated entertainment district officers patrolling Thursday through Sunday.
That said, “downtown is safe” is not a blanket statement. Broadway itself, lit up and packed with officers, is fine. The parking garages attached to the entertainment district at 2 a.m. are a different situation. Side streets north of Church feel emptier the later the night gets. Walking back to a hotel from a bar at 1 a.m. on a busy Saturday is not the same as doing it on a Monday night in January.
The Practical Reality for Visitors
Tourists have a specific risk profile in Nashville that differs from residents. Pickpocketing in dense honky-tonk crowds is the most common issue. Car break-ins, particularly in downtown garages, are a documented problem. Vehicle theft rates citywide remain among the highest in the country.
Practical precautions: Do not leave anything visible in a parked car. Use rideshare rather than walking to remote parking structures late at night. On Broadway specifically, watch your phone and wallet in dense crowd situations. The thousands of intoxicated visitors create opportunity for opportunistic crime even in a well-policed area.
Solo female travelers: Broadway and major tourist areas are generally well-regarded. Multiple women report feeling comfortable even late at night as long as they stayed on main streets. Having a companion changes the equation further.
The Perception Problem
A 2025 police public safety survey found 67 percent of Nashville residents feel safe in the city. Simultaneously, 58 percent believe crime is rising despite data showing the opposite. This gap between reality and perception is a national phenomenon, but it affects how visitors think about Nashville.
The city’s overall crime rate will continue to look high in aggregate statistics because it includes low-income neighborhoods that have historically been underserved and over-policed. Visitors planning a trip around Broadway, 12 South, East Nashville, and the major cultural institutions are operating in a substantially different risk environment than the citywide number implies.
The most dangerous thing most Nashville tourists encounter is their own tab at the end of the night on Broadway.
Sources:
- District Attorney General Glenn R. Funk: In 2025, Nashville Crime Rates Continued to Drop (January 2026)
- Nashville Banner: Nashville sees historic drop in crime rates for 2025 (January 7, 2026)
- WSMV: Nashville’s violent crime rate among top 15 nationwide in 2024, per FBI data (September 2025)
- NeighborhoodScout: Nashville, TN Crime Rates and Statistics (2024 FBI data)
- Nashville Police and Public Safety Alliance public safety sentiment survey (2025)
- Nashville Banner: Security challenges on Nashville’s Lower Broadway (August 2024)