The State of Safety in Hawaii 2021

Hawaii’s violent crime rate of 2.9 incidents per 1,000 people is lower than the national rate of 3.7, but it’s 16% higher than what the state reported last year (2.5). Hawaii is tied with Washington for the second-lowest violent crime rate in the Pacific region, just behind Oregon at 2.8 incidents per 1,000.

The property crime rate in The Aloha State is higher than both national and regional rates, although it dropped statewide year over year. Between 2020 and 2021, the property crime rate fell 1%, from 28.7 incidents per 1,000 to 28.4. Despite that decrease, Hawaii reports seven more property crime incidents per capita than the nationwide average.

Hawaii is more concerned about nearly every crime issue than most Americans. The outlier is gun violence—45% of Hawaiians worry about gun violence happening to them (vs. a 41% national average).

Despite heightened levels of concern, reported experience with crime held steady or dropped across the board year over year. Experience with violent crime fell 55% and property crime experiences dropped 25% between 2020 and 2021. Experience with gun violence remained unchanged at 4%, which is half of the national average of 8%.

Package theft is the second-most-concerning crime issue (53% versus 42% nationally) in Hawaii, but fewer residents were victims of porch pirates (16% versus 20% nationally).

We asked Hawaii residents which crimes they worry may happen to them. See if Hawaiians are concerned about the same crime issues as the rest of the country.

View the complete 2021 State of Safety report.

Violent crime is consistently lower in Hawaii than the national average, although The Aloha State saw a slight rise in violent crime incidents per capita this year.

• Daily concern about violent crime is 4 percentage points higher in Hawaii, but both self-reported personal experience and the FBI violent crime rate are below national averages.
• Aggravated assault is the most common violent crime and makes up 52% of all violent crime in Hawaii, compared to 68% nationwide.
• Robberies account for 28% of all violent crime statewide, compared to 22% nationally.
• 41% named gun violence their top safety concern, compared to 53% across the country.
• There were no mass shooting incidents in Hawaii in the past 2 years, and officer-involved shootings decreased from 9 in 2019 to 7 incidents in 2020.
• 32% of survey respondents use some kind of personal protection like pepper spray (US 34%).
• 60% say their personal safety has been affected by the pandemic—36% more than the rest of the US.

Property crime decreased year over year in The Aloha State, but it’s the most concerning crime issue for Hawaiians.

• Experience with property crime fell from 24% last year to 18% this year, which matches the national average.
• Honolulu’s property crime rate is 30.0 incidents per 1,000—6% higher than the state rate and 42% higher than the national rate.
• Larceny-theft is the most common property crime, making up 74% of all property crime incidents (US 73%).
• Burglaries are less common in Hawaii, accounting for 13% of all property crime compared to 16% nationwide.
• 66% of survey respondents use some kind of measure to protect their property (US 62%) and security systems are used most often (33% versus 25% nationally).
• 33% say the security of their property has been affected by the pandemic (US 29%).

For the purposes of this report, the terms “dangerous” and “safest” refer explicitly to crime rates as calculated from FBI crime data—no other characterization of any community is implied or intended.

We couldn’t rank the safest cities in Hawaii this year due to limited information reported to the FBI. Honolulu was the only city that provided data to the FBI in 2019 (the most recent year for which data is available). Honolulu’s crime rates are detailed below.

Learn how we identified the safest cities on our methodology page.

Whether your city made our list or not, we encourage everyone to be proactive about home security. Learn more about your home security options—and find out which companies we recommend for every budget and lifestyle in our roundup of the Best Home Security Systems.

Click on the state image or dropdown menu below to check out the safest cities for each state.

• Best Home Security Systems
• Best Home Security Cameras
• Best Video Doorbell Cameras
• Burglary Stats & Facts
• The Most Burglarized City in Every State

FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting Program, “2019 Crime in the United States,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

US Census Bureau, "Data Explorer," Accessed November 18, 2020.

Best Places, “Find a Place Search Tool,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

SafeWise, “2021 State of Safety survey,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “Past Summary Ledgers,” Accessed January 6, 2021.

Gun Violence Archive, “General Methodology,” Accessed March 15, 2021.

Melody Hicks, Ben Stickle, Joshua Harms, American Journal of Criminal Justice, “Assessing the Fear of Package Theft,” January 04, 2021. Accessed March 15, 2021.

For definitions and more on data sources, see our methodology page.