Tempe is the ninth-largest city in Arizona, with 190,900 residents in Maricopa County, about 9 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix · Updated November 2026
Is Tempe, AZ safe?
Crime in Tempe is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Tempe. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Tempe run from A+ to D+, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 717 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Tempe as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Tempe scores 717.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Tempe, AZ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Tempe, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Tempe
One part of Tempe stands out for theft. Thefts in Escalante, Alegre Community & Tempe Cascade, in northeast Tempe, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Tempe, 49% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Tempe
Most of Tempe grades well: 74% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Tempe run from A+ to D+; 17% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
74%21%
A or B 74%C 21%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Optimist Park Sw, Alta Mira & Optimist Park Nw, southeastCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Tempe.A878
2Kiwanis Park, Bell de Mar Crossing & Raintree, southCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Tempe.A850
3Tempe Royal Estates & Pepperwood, southwestCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Tempe.A-787
4Meyer Park, Evergreen-Tempe & Shalimar, eastBurglaries run about 20% lower here than in the rest of Tempe.B+745
7Downtown Tempe, Ntna-College & Jen Tilly Terrace, northCar thefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Tempe.B663
8Peterson, Hughes Acres & Cyprus Southwest, centralThefts run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Tempe.B641
9Escalante, Alegre Community & Tempe Cascade, northeastCar thefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Tempe.B-543
Neighborhood areas of Tempe, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Tempe?
Reported violent crime in Tempe peaked in 2020 and has fallen 20% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 23% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.6 to 4.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 38 to 29 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 18%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
TempeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Tempe. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Tempe
Violent, US
Property, Tempe
Property, US
2016
+7%
+4%
+16%
+15%
2017
+5%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
+5%
+0%
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+31%
+4%
+1%
-8%
2021
+28%
+6%
+10%
-10%
2022
+28%
+5%
+14%
-6%
2023
+10%
+2%
-6%
-7%
2024
+4%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Tempe
CrimeGrade™ estimates Tempe has about 63 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 70% more than the US as a whole and 59% more than Arizona.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft makes up about 37% of crime reported in Tempe. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Tempe
Tempe has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Tempe, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 50% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Tempe compares with nearby cities
Tempe has more crime than 6 of its 9 nearest cities. Paradise Valley and Scottsdale have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Tempe apart: it has 133 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 17.1 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.133 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 52% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (36 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 86% of US city residents
Show all 6
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Tempe: C- (32 of 100).17 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 90% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.43% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Tempe on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Tempe
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Tempe about $1,545 a year per household, 28% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $119 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $313 million a year, or $1,640 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$11 million
$57
Rape
$8.4 million
$44
Robbery
$4.1 million
$22
Assault
$43 million
$225
Burglary
$5.9 million
$31
Theft
$23 million
$119
Vehicle theft
$9.1 million
$48
Arson
$380,000
$2
Vandalism
$15 million
$78
Total
$119 million
$625
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Tempe means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Tempe, AZ average a SchoolGrade of C+: 33% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Tempe on SchoolGrade
