Crime Data in Site Selection: Why Crime Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story

While crime may not drive the site selection process, questions around this topic inevitably arise as companies narrow their search and evaluate the nuanced differences between finalist locations. 

Crime can impact workforce attraction, community reputation, security costs and even insurance premiums. But the reality is more complicated: Crime statistics are messy, inconsistent and often misinterpreted. Without proper context, crime data can mislead companies into dismissing viable markets—or overlooking hidden risks.

Why ‘It’s Complicated’

Unlike standardized metrics such as wages or utility costs, crime statistics aren’t reported uniformly across jurisdictions. This makes apples-to-apples comparisons difficult.

Key challenges include:

• Inconsistent reporting practices: Some jurisdictions report every incident to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, while others under-report or skip certain categories.
• Location mismatch: Data is reported by the location of the reporting agency, not by the location of the crime. Therefore, in cases where the reporting agency is not located in the county in which the crime was committed, the crime will be counted in the county of the reporting agency’s location.
• Data gaps: Small towns may not report at all, or may roll their data into county-level numbers that obscure local conditions.
• Lagging data: Official federal statistics are often one to two years out of date, making them less useful for real-time decision-making.
• Definitions differ: What counts as aggravated assault or burglary in one jurisdiction may be classified differently in another.

The result? Two metros with similar crime environments may look drastically different on paper—simply because of how their police departments code and report incidents.

Perception vs. Reality

Another challenge is that perception of crime often matters more than the raw statistics.

• A metro may have above-average crime rates overall, but its industrial parks are located in suburban submarkets with low incident rates.
• Conversely, a city with a reputation for being “safe” may still have concentrated hot spots of cargo theft or property crime near freight corridors.

For companies, the real question isn’t just what the data says broadly, but what conditions their workforce and assets will face day to day.

Case Study: When the Numbers Don’t Match Perception

Take these recent violent crime rates per 1,000 residents:

• Spartanburg, South Carolina MSA: 5.32
• Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina MSA: 4.86
• Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada MSA: 4.14
• Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, Florida MSA: 2.34

Source: Lightcast crime data via FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program

On paper, Spartanburg and Greensboro look significantly “more dangerous” than Miami or Las Vegas. But in practice, most people would perceive Miami or Las Vegas as riskier places to live or operate.

So what’s going on?

1.  Metro Size Distortion

• Spartanburg and Greensboro are much smaller metros. A few hundred extra incidents move the needle substantially.
• Miami and Las Vegas have populations in the millions, so their per-capita rates are diluted even with thousands of violent crimes.

2.  Reporting Consistency

• Smaller metros (like Spartanburg) often have full, uniform participation in the FBI’s NIBRS system, meaning the data is more complete.
• Larger metros sometimes have gaps or inconsistencies, pulling official rates lower.

3.  Crime Type Mix

• Spartanburg’s high rate is driven heavily by assaults and robberies, not necessarily the kinds of crimes that affect an industrial site’s workforce or operations.
• Miami, on the other hand, has more issues with organized crime, drug trafficking and property crime—categories that don’t always get captured in the same way by “violent crime” stats.

Making Crime Data Useful for Site Selection

The key takeaway is that crime statistics can’t be treated like wages, utilities or tax rates. They require context. A high violent crime rate on paper doesn’t always translate into higher risk for your facility—and a low rate doesn’t necessarily guarantee safety.

For companies, there is a smarter approach:

• Look below the metro level: Analyze submarkets and site-specific conditions rather than broad regional averages.
• Understand crime type: Property crime, cargo theft and workplace-adjacent assaults may matter more than overall violent crime.
• Factor in perception: Community reputation can impact workforce attraction even if statistics suggest otherwise.
• Pair data with ground truth: Local law enforcement insights, insurance carriers and security assessments can reveal risks hidden in the numbers.

Conclusion

Crime is too complex—and too important—to reduce to a single ranking. For industrial projects, what matters most is how crime risk intersects with your specific workforce, asset protection and operating model.

At Site Selection Group, we help companies cut through the noise. By combining federal datasets, local reporting and on-the-ground intelligence, we provide a clearer picture of how crime really impacts your short-listed locations. The result: better-informed decisions and strategies that balance cost, safety and workforce needs.