US Campus Safety Statistics
A national snapshot of reported campus crime, computed live from the U.S. Department of Education's Clery Act disclosures. Each figure below is aggregated directly from institution-level records, not estimated.
- 5,673
- institutions tracked
- 59
- states covered
- 32,402
- incidents reported (2023)
- 3
- years of Clery Act data
The national picture
PlainCampus tracks 5,673 Title IV institutions across 59 states, drawing on 432,894 Clery Act crime and VAWA records spanning 3 years. The most commonly reported offense category nationally in 2023 is motor vehicle theft, with 10,898 reported incidents.
- 5,673
- Title IV institutions tracked
- 32,402
- reported incidents (2023)
- 1.08
- median safety score (ranked campuses)
- 432,894
- total Clery/VAWA records
Data year 2023. Aggregated directly from OPE Campus Safety Survey institution-level Clery Act disclosures.
Key findings
Standalone facts, each computed live from the current dataset and free to quote with attribution.
- • PlainCampus tracks 5,673 Title IV institutions across 59 US states and territories, drawn from the OPE Campus Safety Survey.
- • Motor Vehicle Theft is the most commonly reported Clery Act offense category nationally in 2023, with 10,898 reported incidents.
- • The top 3 reported offense categories account for 73% of all 32,402 incidents reported in 2023.
- • 432,894 total Clery Act and VAWA records have been logged across 3 years of federal campus-safety disclosures.
- • California has more Title IV institutions in the dataset than any other state, with 604 tracked schools.
- • Among ranked, mid-to-large campuses (2,000+ enrollment), the median reported 1.08 on-campus incidents per 1,000 students in 2023.
Reported offense categories, 2023
Total reported incidents by Clery Act offense category, summed across all tracked institutions for the most recent reporting year.
| Offense category | Total incidents |
|---|---|
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 10,898 |
| Burglary | 6,991 |
| Rape | 5,697 |
| Fondling | 4,664 |
| Aggravated Assault | 2,731 |
| Arson | 672 |
| Robbery | 636 |
| Statutory Rape | 81 |
| Murder / Non-Negligent Manslaughter | 27 |
| Incest | 3 |
| Negligent Manslaughter | 2 |
Highest average safety score by state
Average safety score across ranked, mid-to-large campuses (enrollment 2,000+) headquartered in each state.
Cite this page
These statistics are free to quote and link with attribution. Suggested citation:
PlainCampus, "US Campus Safety Statistics," based on the OPE Campus Safety Survey (Clery Act) data (2023). https://plaincampus.com/statistics/
Source data is a public federal disclosure. Institution-level figures come from the U.S. Department of Education OPE Campus Safety Survey. See our methodology for the full processing pipeline.
Reading these numbers
A national total hides wide variation by state, institution size, and offense type.
- Motor Vehicle Theft is the most commonly reported offense category nationally (10,898 incidents), but reporting volume also reflects institution size and disclosure practices, not just underlying risk. Crime category rankings
- California has the most tracked institutions (604), so state totals partly reflect the number of schools, not just per-campus safety. Browse by state
- Safety scores are only computed for ranked, mid-to-large campuses (2,000+ enrollment) to avoid distortion from tiny institutions where a single incident swings the per-1,000 rate. Compare two schools
Figures are OPE Campus Safety Survey 2023 aggregates and are refreshed when the Department of Education publishes the next annual disclosure cycle. They reflect reported incidents, not adjudicated findings or a comprehensive measure of a campus's actual safety, and are not a substitute for reviewing an institution's full Annual Security Report.
