Majority of Nashville residents feel safe, but less so than five years ago
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A clear majority of residents feel safe in Nashville, though the number declined compared to last year.
Why it matters: Nashville leaders, including Mayor Freddie O'Connell, are dealing with a perception gap since statistics show crime is down across the board this year.
Driving the news: The nonprofit Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance released the findings this week of its recent survey of Nashville residents.
By the numbers: According to the findings, 67% of Nashvillians feel safe here. By comparison, 73% felt safe last year.
- Similarly, just 38% feel Nashville is as safe as five years ago, compared to 43% in the same survey in 2024.
Friction point: The survey shows 58% believe crime is increasing in Nashville. The Police + Public Safety Alliance released a data tracking tool showing crime is declining.
Zoom out: O'Connell is increasingly talking about the city's crime stats. In a story published in the Tennessean this week, he particularly touted the stark drop in homicides.
- There have been 60 homicides in Davidson County so far in 2025. There were 103 last year and 114 in 2020. Homicides in Nashville are on track for a 60-year low, the Tennessean reports.
- O'Connell attributed the drop in part to new investments made during his tenure. The police budget has increased by over $40 million in two years under O'Connell.
What he's saying: "We're seeing historically low moments of these particular categories of crime, and it's happening at a time where we're making strategic investments," O'Connell told the newspaper.
The fine print: The survey of 1,050 residents was conducted in September by Impact Research via phone and text-to-web in both English and Spanish.
- The overall margin of error is plus (+) or minus (-) or 3 percentage points, according to the firm.
Go deeper: The Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance data tool tracks crime stats by type of offense and neighborhood. The tool also includes the results of the public safety survey.