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Breaking: Saline County Ranks Fourth in Kansas Crime Index Rate, But Violent Crime Falls Below State Average

July 6, 2026 Saline County Crime Index, KBI, City of Salina, Salina Police Department
Breaking: Saline County Ranks Fourth in Kansas Crime Index Rate, But Violent Crime Falls Below State Average

Saline County’s 2025 crime-index rate was higher than the Kansas statewide average and appears to rank fourth-highest among Kansas county totals with calculated rates, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s 2025 Crime Index Report.

The KBI report shows Saline County recorded 1,340 total index crimes in 2025, for a rate of 25.2 offenses per 1,000 people. The statewide crime-index rate was 22.5 offenses per 1,000 people.

However, the same report shows Saline County’s violent-crime rate was below the Kansas average. Saline County reported 226 violent crimes, or 4.2 per 1,000 people, compared with the statewide violent-crime rate of 4.6 per 1,000 people.

The county’s higher overall rate was driven by property crime. Saline County reported 1,114 property crimes, or 20.9 per 1,000 people, compared with the statewide property-crime rate of 17.9 per 1,000 people.

The KBI defines index crimes as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault/battery, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. In its statewide summary, KBI said total index crimes are heavily impacted by property crimes because those offenses make up a much larger share of reported crimes than violent offenses.

For Saline County, the report listed 4 murders, 33 rapes, 39 robberies, 150 aggravated assaults/batteries, 166 burglaries, 865 thefts, 83 motor vehicle thefts and 17 arsons in 2025.

Salina Police Department accounted for most of the countywide total. The KBI report shows Salina PD reported 1,238 index crimes, including 193 violent crimes and 1,045 property crimes. That means Salina PD accounted for about 92% of all index crimes reported in Saline County.

Among county totals with calculated rates, Saline County’s 25.2 crime-index rate was behind Sedgwick County at 47.6, Wyandotte County at 41.8 and Shawnee County at 34.2. Saline County’s rate was higher than Cowley County at 23.7, Crawford County at 22.8 and Reno County at 22.6.

The report does not prove that Saline County is higher in every category of crime. Instead, it shows that the county’s overall index-crime rate is above the state average, while its violent-crime rate remains below the state average.

KBI also cautions that the report reflects crimes reported by law enforcement agencies through the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System. The report does not represent every criminal incident committed in Kansas, because it depends on crimes being reported to law enforcement and agencies submitting data to KBI.


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