CrimeMetric

Crime in Opelika, Alabama

Major crime in Opelika is 43% above the U.S. rate per resident: 26% higher for persons crimes and 46% higher for property crimes. Expected major crimes are down 7.8% from a year earlier.

Modeled estimates per resident, not counts of incidents. How we calculated this

Major crime
143
43% above the U.S. rate
42% above the Alabama rate
down 7.8% in a year
Persons crimes
126
26% above the U.S. rate
17% above the Alabama rate
down 11.7% in a year
Property crimes
146
46% above the U.S. rate
48% above the Alabama rate
down 7.1% in a year
Social disorder
226
2.3 times the U.S. rate
1.7 times the Alabama rate
down 10.1% in a year

Index: crimes per resident compared with the U.S., where 100 is the U.S. rate and 200 is twice it.

Check an address in Opelika

Crime by type

Drugs and alcohol stands out most, at 3.2 times the U.S. rate

Expected crimes per year in Opelika for each type, and the index against the U.S. rate per resident.

Citywide indexWhere the middle half of residents live

IndexPer year

How crime varies across Opelika

The middle half of Opelika residents live in neighborhoods with a major-crime index between 70 and 165; the typical (median) resident's is 102. The citywide figure (143) is higher than that because crime concentrates in a smaller set of areas.

Map of Opelika, with its census block groups shaded by major-crime index band
Block groups shaded by major-crime index, in the bar's bands below; pale gray where fewer than 100 people live. Tap one to compare it. Highways and boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau.
  • 0–5021.5%
  • 50–10023.2%
  • 100–20034.9%
  • 200–40016.5%
  • 400+3.9%

Share of residents by the index of their census block group, a neighborhood of roughly 600 to 3,000 people.

When it happens

Highest on weekday daytimes

Major-crime index by time of week, against the U.S. rate for the same hours.

Monday to Friday, 6am to 6pm167
Sunday to Thursday nights, 6pm to 6am112
Saturday and Sunday, 6am to 6pm152
Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm to 6am132
Trend and outlook

Major crime fell 7.8% in a year; across Alabama it fell 8.3%

Past yearBy 2031
Major crime-7.8%AL -8.3%-3.6%AL -12.4%
Persons crimes-11.7%AL -5.4%+10.4%AL -0.5%
Property crimes-7.1%AL -8.9%-6.2%AL -15.2%
Social disorder-10.1%AL -5.4%+3.5%AL -5.7%

Change in expected crimes, with Alabama as a whole in gray. The past year uses the reporting agencies' year-to-date FBI data; 2031 is the model's projection.

Similar-size places

Opelika against U.S. places with 25,000 to 50,000 residents

145 of the 960 other places of this size have a higher major-crime index than Opelika; the middle of the group is 77. The 9 nearest in population:

Garner, NC36,848180
Opelika, AL36,682143
Brighton, NY36,851115
Kearney, NE36,64764
Elmont, NY36,80654
Martinez, GA36,59648
Eagle, ID36,56828

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; residents in gray.

Nearby places

Opelika has a higher major-crime index than 5 of its 8 nearest neighbors

The 8 nearest cities and towns we cover, by major-crime index. The closest, Auburn (7 mi), is 59% below Opelika's rate.

Valley16 mi222
Lanett19 mi171
Phenix City24 mi157
Opelika143
La Fayette17 mi113
Auburn7 mi59
Ladonia23 mi46

Major-crime index per resident, U.S. = 100; distances between where residents live, in miles.

Questions about crime in Opelika

What are the most common crimes in Opelika?

By expected count, the most common persons and property crimes are other larceny (about 392 a year), shoplifting (about 165 a year) and aggravated assault (about 109 a year). Compared with the U.S., drugs and alcohol stands out most: 3.2 times the U.S. rate per resident.

How we calculated this

Each police agency's crimes, as reported to the FBI, are spread across the census block groups it serves using population, jobs, points of interest and, where available, local incident records. Opelika's figures add up its 24 block groups. The index compares crimes per resident with the U.S. rate.

  • Opelika has no published incident records in our data, so its estimate relies on agency totals and neighborhood characteristics.
  • 53.2% of residents live in block groups whose estimate has high confidence (80% interval within about 5x).
  • Rates are per resident, so places where many people work or visit but few live, such as downtowns, airports and stadiums, can read high.
  • Disorderly conduct and trespassing are modeled, because the FBI records them only through arrests.
  • Residents: 36,682. Model updated Oct 20, 2026. Release 2026-2026-10-20-2

Full method and validation·Data sources

Cite this page

CrimeMetric. "Crime in Opelika, Alabama." Vorp Labs, model updated Oct 20, 2026. https://crimemetric.com/al/opelika

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Major-crime index, U.S. = 100