Appleton is a city of 121,300 in Outagamie County and the main city of the Appleton metro area, home to 245,800 · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Appleton?
Property crime in Appleton sits near the national middle: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 59% of Americans live. Theft makes up 72% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A+, and vehicle theft grades A+.
A
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 867 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Appleton as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Appleton scores 867.
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 property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least 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 Appleton, WI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Appleton, 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 about property crime in Appleton
Car thefts run high in Downtown Appleton, Highland Park & Peabody Park. In this part of central Appleton, they run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Appleton.
Burglaries are uncommon. Appleton has burglaries at less than half the US rate: 0.89 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Appleton, 62% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Appleton
Every part of Appleton where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Appleton run from A+ to B+.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Glenwood Acres & Applecreek Estates, northeastThefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Appleton.A+932
2Parkdale, northClose to the rest of Appleton on most crimes.A889
3Lake Park Reserve & Grand Chute Island, southBurglaries run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Appleton.A861
4Bell Heights, westThefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Appleton.A-792
5Downtown Appleton, Highland Park & Peabody Park, centralBurglaries run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Appleton.A-778
Neighborhood areas of Appleton, ranked by property crime 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 property crime going up in Appleton?
Reported property crime in Appleton peaked in 2020 and has fallen 14% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 15 to 13 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
AppletonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Appleton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Appleton
Property, US
2016
+19%
+15%
2017
+6%
+12%
2018
+15%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+5%
-8%
2021
-12%
-10%
2022
+2%
-6%
2023
-5%
-7%
2024
-10%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Appleton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Appleton has about 22 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% less than the US as a whole and 37% more than Wisconsin.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Appleton, about 72% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. 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 property crime happens in Appleton
Appleton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Appleton, 55% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 54% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (55%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Appleton and nearby cities
Appleton has the most property crime of its 9 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Appleton. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Appleton is safer than 60% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Appleton apart: it has 3.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 15.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 94% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 90% 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. 74% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 89% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.68 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Appleton: D (18 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
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 property crime costs Appleton
Property crime costs Appleton about $16 million a year, or $131 per resident and about $326 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$970,000
$8
Theft
$9.8 million
$81
Vehicle theft
$1.1 million
$9
Arson
$71,000
$1
Vandalism
$3.9 million
$32
Total
$16 million
$131
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
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
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
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.
