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Theft is Indianapolis’s most common crime, followed by motor vehicle theft, burglary, assault, and robbery. Property crimes like theft and vehicle break-ins happen more often than violent offenses like assault or homicide.

Indianapolis is Indiana’s capital and largest city. The city’s economy relies heavily on logistics, manufacturing, and life sciences, and it is home to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, host of the annual Indianapolis 500. Several universities, including Butler University and IU Indianapolis, are also based in the city, along with a major airport and a growing downtown business district.

People searching “Is Indianapolis safe?” usually want a direct breakdown of which crimes happen most, not a general safety rating. The sections below walk through each major crime type and how often it occurs.

Theft and Larceny

Theft, sometimes called larceny, is the single most reported crime in Indianapolis by a wide margin. It covers shoplifting, pickpocketing, and taking property from a vehicle, yard, or unattended location without force or a break-in.

This category consistently outnumbers every other crime type in raw incident totals, often by several thousand cases per year. Theft rose slightly in recent reporting periods even as several violent crime categories declined significantly.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Motor vehicle theft is Indianapolis’s fastest-growing property crime by percentage increase. Unlike theft from a vehicle, which targets items left inside a car, this crime involves stealing the entire car, truck, or motorcycle.

Marion County saw vehicle theft surge roughly 38 percent in a single recent year, a sharper jump than any other major crime category tracked citywide. Certain vehicle models with known security weaknesses have made this crime noticeably easier to commit across Indianapolis.

Burglary

Burglary means unlawfully entering a building, home, or business with intent to commit a crime inside, usually theft. It differs from robbery because burglary does not require the owner or occupant to be present during the offense.

Burglary has trended downward in Indianapolis for several consecutive years, unlike theft and motor vehicle theft. This decline mirrors a broader national pattern seen in many similarly sized cities across the country.

Assault

Assault is Indianapolis’s most common violent crime, ranking well above robbery or homicide in yearly total incidents. It covers a wide range of conduct, from threats and minor injuries to serious aggravated attacks.

  • Simple assault involves minor injury or the threat of injury.
  • Aggravated assault involves a weapon or intent to cause serious harm.
  • Domestic assault cases are tracked separately from stranger-on-stranger incidents.

Aggravated assaults dropped by roughly 34 percent in a recent year-over-year comparison, one of the sharpest declines among all major crime categories. Even with that decline, assault remains far more common than homicide or robbery in total incidents reported each year.

Robbery

Robbery involves taking property directly from a person through force or the threat of force. This distinguishes it from theft, which does not require any confrontation with a victim, and from burglary, which targets an empty building.

Robbery has declined for several consecutive years in Indianapolis, falling close to 19 percent in one recent period compared to the year before. It remains less common than theft, burglary, or assault, but more common than homicide across the same reporting periods.

Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings

Homicide is Indianapolis’s least common major crime by raw count, but it draws the most public attention of any category listed here. The city recorded 219 homicides in 2023, 209 in 2024, and roughly 152 in 2025, a steady multi-year decline.

Non-fatal shootings follow a similar downward pattern, falling by more than 20 percent in the most recent year measured. Firearms are involved in the large majority of homicide cases citywide, more than any other weapon type combined.

Key Takeaways

  • Theft is the single most common crime reported in Indianapolis.
  • Motor vehicle theft is the fastest-growing property crime in the city.
  • Burglary has trended downward for several consecutive years.
  • Assault is the most frequent violent crime, ranking above robbery and homicide.
  • Robbery has declined but remains more common than homicide.
  • Homicide is the least common major crime by total count.
  • Firearms are involved in most homicide cases across the city.