Is Franklin, TN safe? Crime rates from FBI data, 2019-2025

Franklin crime data at a glance (FBI Crime Data Explorer)

Is Franklin, TN safe? What the FBI numbers show

Crime data can settle one comparison on your shortlist and not the other. Against Murfreesboro or Metro Nashville, the gap is wide: in 2025 Murfreesboro's reported violent crime rate was about 2.4 times Franklin's, and Metro Nashville's about 5.6 times. Against Brentwood, both towns sit far under Tennessee's 498.8 per 100,000, so price, commute and school system will decide that one. The FBI's Crime Data Explorer publishes what each police agency reports, and for the Franklin Police Department, which covers the city limits, the seven-year record looks like this:

Judge an area on the multi-year trend for the agency that patrols it, then check a crime map for the street. A single year can swing on a few dozen incidents in a city of about 90,000, so one year's ranking in a news story says less than this table.

Franklin violent crime rate

Violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) ran between 137 and 230 offenses per 100,000 across the seven years. The 2020 high was 197 offenses and the 2024 low was 123. The 2025 figure, 155 offenses, sits in the middle of that range.

Franklin property crime rate

Property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson) ran from 798 to 1,114 per 100,000 through 2024, then dropped to 693 in 2025. That drop, from 858 offenses to 627, is large for one year. Treat it as preliminary until the FBI's figures settle, and use 2024's 953 as the cautious comparison.

Franklin crime clearance rates

A clearance usually means an arrest. Franklin PD cleared 89 violent offenses against 155 reported in 2025 and 77 against 123 in 2024. For property crime it was 199 against 627 in 2025 and 256 against 858 in 2024. Clearances in a year can include offenses from earlier years, so read these as rough rates: about 57% to 63% for violent crime and about 30% for property crime.

How safe is Franklin compared with Tennessee and the U.S.?

Set against the state and national rates from the same FBI tool, Franklin's reported rates are lower on both measures in both years.

Franklin vs Tennessee crime rate

In 2025 Franklin's violent crime rate was about 34% of Tennessee's and its property crime rate about 42%. In 2024 the violent figure was about 23% of the state's 604.7. The ratio moved because Franklin's count rose from 123 to 155 while the state's rate fell, so compare several years.

Franklin vs U.S. crime rate

Against the national rate, Franklin's 2025 violent crime rate was about 52% and its property crime rate about 45%. Tennessee as a whole runs above the U.S. on violent crime, which is why the state comparison looks wider than the national one.

How safe is Franklin next to Brentwood, Murfreesboro and Nashville?

If your shortlist runs from Brentwood to Murfreesboro or into Nashville, these are the FBI figures for each city's own police agency:

Brentwood crime rate

Brentwood's violent crime rate was about a third of Franklin's in 2025, and its property crime rate was a little lower. It's also the most expensive town in the county, with a typical home of $1,388,985 against Franklin's $913,277 (Zillow, September 2026). The Brentwood relocation page covers the rest of that comparison.

Murfreesboro crime rate

Murfreesboro's 2025 violent crime rate was about 2.4 times Franklin's, and its property rate about 2.2 times. It's also the area's lower-priced alternative, with a typical home of $424,348.

Metro Nashville crime rate

Metro Nashville's police cover the whole consolidated city and county, from downtown to suburban neighborhoods, so its rate of 961.6 violent crimes per 100,000 blends very different areas. Compare a specific Nashville neighborhood with a crime map rather than with this citywide figure. The guide to Nashville suburbs lays out the towns side by side.

Is Franklin safe on a specific street? Crime maps and local data

Citywide rates don't describe a street. For a home you're considering, look at recent incidents near the address from the agency that answers the 911 call there.

Franklin Police Department or the Sheriff's Office

A Franklin mailing address doesn't mean city limits. Inside the city, the Franklin Police Department responds and its figures are the ones above. Outside city limits, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office covers the area. Check the parcel record for which applies, then look at that agency's data.

Williamson County crime maps

The Williamson County Sheriff's Office publishes a crime map page, and the City of Franklin points residents to CrimeReports.com. Search a half-mile around the address for the last six to twelve months, and look at the type of incident as well as the count.

Filter the map by offense type before you count. Franklin's reported property crime outnumbers violent crime about four to one (627 against 155 in 2025), so an unfiltered map is mostly thefts and break-ins, and a cluster around a shopping center describes the shopping center, not the subdivision behind it.

TBI CrimeInsight for Tennessee crime data

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation publishes CrimeInsight and an annual Crime in Tennessee report, both built from what every Tennessee agency submits. Use it to check a figure here against the state's own count or to look at offense types in more detail.

City of Franklin public safety dashboard

The City's FranklinForward performance dashboard tracks the city's own public safety measures. The City's annual police report page lists reports only through 2012, so use the dashboard and the FBI tool for current figures.

How the Franklin safe-city figures are counted

Every crime rate on this page comes from the FBI Crime Data Explorer, pulled on November 3, 2026, for the agencies named, which is why they can differ from rankings in news stories.

FBI Crime Data Explorer method for Franklin

The FBI counts offenses each agency reports in two summary groups: violent crime and property crime, as defined above. Rates are offenses per 100,000 residents of the agency's area, which lets you compare cities of different sizes. Franklin's rates are the FBI's monthly agency rates summed for the year; the comparison cities' rates are offenses divided by the FBI's population figure, so small differences in method exist. Franklin PD's covered population was 90,436 in 2025.

Why 2025 Franklin crime figures may change

Agencies can submit late or revise reports, so the most recent year often moves. Franklin's 2025 property crime count fell 27% from 2024, which is unusual for one year.

Safest-city rankings and Franklin

Published safest-city lists use their own formulas, weights and population cutoffs, and they change year to year. This page doesn't rank cities or neighborhoods. Use the FBI table above for the trend, and a crime map for the street.

For the rest of the decision, from the cost of living in Franklin to the Franklin school systems, see the Franklin relocation guide.