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Best Knoxville, Tennessee Home Security & Alarm Companies 2023

Here's what we found when we analyzed home security providers and crime data in Knoxville

Recommended Home Security Providers in Knoxville

Best Wireless Install
  • Wireless Install
  • No-Contract
  • Easy Professional Install
  • Effective in Locations with High Violent Crime
  • Known for exceptional customer assistance
Best Customer Service
  • Pro. Install
  • Offers several integration options
  • Effective in Locations with High Property Crime
  • Offers options without a contract
Best Response Time
  • Video Monitoring
  • DIY Install
  • Easy Wireless Install
  • Great Home Automation Options
  • Effective to protect against threats of fire

Our Analysis of Safety in Knoxville

The rate of crime in Knoxville is significantly above average, with 63.45 incidents for every one thousand residents. In comparison to other U.S. cities, the city places in the 91st percentile for highest crime statistics.

Knoxville experiences significantly above average person crime — the city ranks in the 83rd percentile for incidents against persons. For every one thousand residents, there are approximately 6.96 crimes against individuals. However, Knoxville's rates do not reflect crime levels in the state of Tennessee — they do, however, not diverge significantly from national crime rates.

The bulk of criminality is property crime, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Knoxville, homicide offenses are the most recurrent incidents against individuals. arson is the city’s most rampant property crime.

Property offenses are very high in Knoxville. 56.49 property offenses occur for every one thousand citizens every year, placing the city of Knoxville in the 82nd percentile. The city’s very high property crime is acutely lopsided when measured against Tennessee — and the U.S. across the nation. Knoxville is more suceptible to property-related crimes than 102% of Tennessee counties and 143% of counties in the country.

Notwithstanding it's significantly above average crime levels, Knoxville supports a comparably average law enforcement count. Knoxville has a typical officer-to-civilian ratio, with 2.59 law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents. That's one officer to guard 386 inhabitants.

In addition to crimes per capita, the rate of criminal activity is an additional consequential safety measure. Knoxville has significantly high crime frequency, with 1.36 offenses occurring every hour. A crime occurs every 44 minutes in Knoxville. Specifically, a property offense takes place every 50 minutes and incidents against people occur about once every 7 hours.

Data sourced from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, 2017 (last available dataset)
187,539
Arson
2.591
Median Percentile
1.358
Top 20% Percentile
56.49
Top 20% Percentile
6.959
Top 20% Percentile

Best Option With Wireless Install

With all the marketing hype surrounding alarm companies, picking the best one for your home doesn't come easily. There's a lot of options to choose from even in Knoxville, TN alone. Most customers decide which alarm company is for them by comparing pricing and features. However, with all the options available, it can easily take you days to compare all the alarm companies offering service in your area. With that in mind, we at Home Alarm Report conducted our own extensive research on the alarm companies that offer their services in Knoxville, TN and found that wireless security systems are the best for Knoxville, TN residents.

To help you further narrow down the list, we looked at the features of the top companies offering wireless systems and compared them with the crime analytics in your area. After doing this type of analysis, our results show that Simplisafe gives the highest-level of protection to their customers in Knoxville, TN. Our findings were further confirmed by customer reviews from Simplisafe customers in Knoxville, TN. Overall, customers are satisfied with the services provided by Simplisafe.

If you wish to learn more about why we recommend Simplisafe, be sure to check out our in-depth Simplisafe review. If planning on setting up service with them, we've found that the easiest way is to get in touch directly with an agent by calling (844) 725-9572 or you can visit the Simplisafe website.

Best Choice for Exceptional Customer Assistance

Customer service is the staple of any alarm company. Regardless of how great their pricing and features are, a security company with poor customer service always ends up with dissatisfied customers, which is the main reason that we highly recommend picking only companies that back up their features and pricing with high-quality customer service. In Knoxville, TN, we've found that Vivint is the best company that matches the description.

Several determining factors went into our recommendation. For one, Vivint is the best overall choice in Knoxville, TN if you compare their pricing and features. With Vivint, it's almost guaranteed that you'll get more than what you pay for. More importantly, the customer service quality offered by Vivint is top-notch. They show that they truly think of their customers. Even if you go over and read customer reviews online, you'll notice that customers in Knoxville, TN are saying the same thing.

Of course, we also made sure that Vivint is able to protect their customers in Knoxville, TN. To do that, we analyzed a huge pile of crime data with the goal of understanding of which crimes and threats are most common in Knoxville, TN and the reason why these dangers exist. After comparing the risks and the features offered by Vivint, we were able to establish that Vivint is fully-equipped to protect their customers, especially in Knoxville, TN.

To set up service with Vivint, a quick call with a Vivint representative is all you need. You can call them at (844) 746-2467. You may also head over to their website and answer a few standard questions.

Best Response Time

There's a lot of marketing hype surrounding the response time speed of alarm companies, but the undeniable truth is that the response time matters during times of emergency. While it is not a measure of the amount of time it takes the police to get to your house, the response time does have an effect on the overall police response speed. The faster an alarm company verifies an alert, the sooner they can dispatch help. Having said that, it's wise to choose a good security company with a fast response time.

To further provide you assistance in making a decision, we picked the top alarm companies that provide services in Knoxville, TN by looking into their security features and pricing. We also stacked their features against the local crime data in Knoxville, TN to see which of them have the ability to provide protection from the most common risks to Knoxville, TN residents. After doing this type of analysis, we've come to the conclusion that Brinks offers the perfect balance between value and features and they also have the shortest response time in Knoxville, TN.

Our main objective here at Home Alarm Report is to help you, our readers, make wise buying decisions. After doing extensive research work on Brinks, we're fully confident that they deserve our recommendation and that their features and fast response time won't disappoint. Once you're ready to set up service with them, we highly recommend heading over to their website to get a quick overview of their pricing.

There’s so much more to this city than football. Knoxville is a city full of beautiful rolling hills, delicious food, and music.

If you live in Knoxville you already know how great it can be. If you are moving to Knoxville you may be trying to find a spot that balances culture with safety. Below you will find local safety information and also our top 4 picks for home alarm providers servicing the Knoxville area.

National Home Alarm Companies in Knoxville

Our top 10 list changes as companies change but we keep the latest and greatest rankings on our home page.

Frontpoint Security

Frontpoint is our top recommended alarm company partially thanks to their commitment to customer service. They hold an A+ BBB rating, they are an Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner, and 94% of their customers say that they would recommend Frontpoint to a friend.

But there’s more to Frontpoint than customer service. They use top-notch equipment from Alarm.com and they sell their own self-branded Hub, they offer home automation and video solutions, and two of their monitoring plans are backed by Smash-Proof Protection technology, a technology which will protect you if a burglar finds and smashes your control panel.

However, Frontpoint does have a higher upfront cost. If you sign a three-year contract, you can help mitigate this as you may qualify for a $300 equipment discount.

Frontpoint offers equipment packages that include the control Hub, Keypad, and sensors. You can also buy additional equipment a la carte to customize your system. You can learn more about Frontpoint’s pricing via the review linked below.

Frontpoint Security
(844) 328-2882
Read Review

  • A+ BBB Rating
  • Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner
  • Home Automation

Link Interactive

Link Interactive is our number two pick. Just like Frontpoint, their systems are powered by Alarm.com. They also hold an A+ BBB rating and they are an Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner.

All Link customers have the option to fully customize their systems. For free, Link offers a basic touchscreen control panel, yard sign, and window decals. You can upgrade the panel to a tablet-like touchscreen control panel for an extra $100, and add as many sensors as needed.

Link offers modern security features such as smartphone control, home automation, and video surveillance. You can learn more by clicking on the hyperlinked review below.

Link Interactive
1-877-826-5443
Read Review

  • A+ BBB Rating
  • Angie’s List Super Service Award Winner
  • Home Automation

Local Home Security System Providers

Fleenor Security Systems

Fleenor Security is more of a traditional security company. Their systems are not as high-tech as our national picks, but they have been in the business for decades, and that says something. They take pride in their customer service, saying that “those who manage Fleenor Security are the same local people who own and operate it”.

Fleenor
(865) 966-5507
Visit Their Website
Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau

Koorsen Fire & Security

Koorsen Fire & Security is an alarm company servicing four states, including Tennessee. Their equipment is powered by Honeywell and they offer security products for homes and businesses. What makes them unique is their flexible payment option. You can pay $499.99 up front for the equipment and only $19.99 per month for monitoring with no contract. Or you can pay $99 down and $29.99 per month with a 3-year contract.

Koorsen 
1-866-600-9208
Visit Their Website
Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau

Keep in mind that an Alarm Permit is required in the city of Knoxville.

Police Crime Statistics

Knoxville is a quiet town, sometimes. One hundred years ago, someone described Knoxville as an “alternately quiet and rowdy town”, that seems to be true today, especially if you look closely at crime statistics.

If you compare the 2011 crime stats to 2012, you will see property crimes are trending downward. In 2012 Knoxville had 12,161 crimes compared to 12,917 crimes in 2011. However, looks can be deceiving.

The total number of property crimes may have dropped, but in those two years, specifics crimes such as the number of burglaries actually increased.

Burglary
2012: 2,880
2011: 2,546

Theft
2012: 9,533
2011: 8,367

Arson
2012: 23
2011: 29

Will I be a victim in Knoxville?

Knoxville is considered safer than only 2% of US cities. This means that Knoxville can be a dangerous place.

  • There are 64.76 property crimes for every 1,000 residents. That’s more than twice the national median which is 27.3. Tennessee, as a whole, has a relatively high property crime rate, 31.81 for every 1,000 residents.
  • In Knoxville, there is a 1 in 15 chance of becoming a victim of property crimes.
  • The rate of crime per square mile is 37.9 in Knoxville. In this part, the whole state of Tennessee fairs well (because of its large land mass). It only has 18 crimes per square mile, while the national median is 37.9.

Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in Knoxville

The city is divided into 5 areas—Downtown, East Knoxville, West Knoxville, South Knoxville, and North Knoxville.

Of these 5 areas, most crimes are focused in the Downtown area, specifically the north end. Old City is also a dangerous area, just north of Downtown. Fort Sanders and the University of Tennessee also see higher rates of concentrated crime. (Side note, I have lots of friends that went to UT and they were not victims. Just use caution and don’t drink and walk around at night.)

Safest Neighborhoods in Knoxville

As the city extends outward, it is becoming safer. So North, East, South, and West Knoxville are considered safer.

These are the neighborhoods with the lowest crime rates:

  • Shady Grove / Choto Estates
  • West Emory
  • W Gallagher Ferry Road / Frank Herron Road
  • Poplar Hill Rd. / Chanute Lane
  • Robinson Crossroads

Resources:

Wikipedia.org
Movoto
The FBI
Neighborhood Scout

Photograph “Alex Haley Heritage Square – Knoxville, TN” by Brent Moore. Attribution 2.0 Generic CC BY-NC 2.0

Knoxville Home Security Providers

Here is a complete list of providers available in Knoxville:
ProviderHAR ScoreWebsiteInstall TypePhoneMonitoring TypeBusiness Service
Frontpoint8.7www.frontpointsecurity.comDIY(833) 606-4477ProfessionalYes
ADT9.4www.adt.comProfessional(844) 741-8968ProfessionalYes
Alder7.2www.alder.comDIY(866) 717-8611ProfessionalNo
Link Interactive8.5www.linkinteractive.comDIY(877) 826-5443ProfessionalNo
Brinks7.5brinkshome.comProfessional or DIY(866) 305-6806ProfessionalYes
Ring9.5ring.comDIY(800) 656-1918Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Protect America7.8www.protectamerica.comDIY(800) 951-5111ProfessionalYes
Simplisafe8.5simplisafe.comProfessional or DIY(800) 297-1605Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Guardian Protection Services7.3www.guardianprotection.comProfessional(800) 857-5028ProfessionalYes
Vivint7.8www.vivint.comProfessional(801) 377-9111ProfessionalNo
abode7.5goabode.comProfessional or DIY(650) 443-7834Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Xfinity Home Security8www.xfinity.comProfessional(877) 591-2503ProfessionalYes
Lifeshield7.5www.lifeshield.comProfessional or DIY(877) 632-7657ProfessionalNo
Swann7www.swann.com/usDIY(562) 906-3983Self-MonitoredNo
Fortress Security7.5www.fortresssecuritystore.comDIY(206) 981-5371Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
iSmartAlarm7www.ismartalarm.comDIY(408) 245-2551Self-MonitoredNo
My Alarm Center7.5myalarmcenter.comProfessional(855) 334-6562ProfessionalYes
Ooma8www.ooma.comDIY(888) 711-6662Self-MonitoredNo
LivSecure7.8www.livsecure.comDIY(844) 349-7233ProfessionalNo
Alarm Grid8.5www.alarmgrid.comDIY(888) 818-7728Professional or Self-MonitoredYes
Cove8.3www.covesmart.comDIY(855) 268-3669Professional or Self-MonitoredYes
Protection One7.3www.protection1.comProfessional(877) 776-1911ProfessionalYes
American Defense Systems7.8www.americandefensesystems.comProfessional(800) 610-2134ProfessionalNo
Canary8.5canary.isDIYSelf-MonitoredNo
Centurylink7.5www.centurylink.comProfessional(888) 723-8010ProfessionalYes
AT&T Digital Life7.8my-digitallife.att.comProfessional(855) 288-2727ProfessionalNo
Scout Alarm7.3www.scoutalarm.comDIY(844) 287-2688Professional or Self-MonitoredNo
Uxari7.8uxari.comDIY(877) 877-9788ProfessionalNo
GetSafe8getsafe.comDIY(888) 799-6255ProfessionalNo
Alarm Relay8www.alarmrelay.comDIY(800) 624-6866ProfessionalNo