The crime rate in Red Oak is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 21 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Red Oak is 1 in 48. Based on FBI crime data, Red Oak is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Iowa, Red Oak has a crime rate that is higher than 93% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

Importantly, when you compare Red Oak to other communities of similar population, then Red Oak crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Red Oak does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Red Oak does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Red Oak.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Red Oak occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Red Oak; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 248. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Red Oak experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Red Oak's rate for property crime is 17 per one thousand population. This makes Red Oak a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Red Oak is one in 59.