Burien is a city of 35,900 in King County, about 9 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Burien?
Burien grades D- for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 89% of Americans live. Theft makes up 41% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades C, and vehicle theft grades F.
D-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 126 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
11% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Burien as a whole, and 89% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Burien scores 126.
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 Burien, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Burien, 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 Burien
Vehicle theft at more than triple the US rate. Burien has 11.0 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Burglaries happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Burien, 49% of reported burglaries happen at stores and businesses, against 28% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Burien
In Burien, 16% of residents live in areas graded A or B for property crime, 25% in areas graded C and 59% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Burien run from B to F.
16%25%59%
A or B 16%C 25%D or F 59%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Burien?
Reported property crime in Burien peaked in 2021 and has fallen 32% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 34 to 33 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 13%.
Property crime, change since 2019
BurienUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Burien. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Burien
Property, US
2016
+48%
+15%
2017
+18%
+12%
2018
+9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+24%
-8%
2021
+42%
-10%
2022
+19%
-6%
2023
+11%
-7%
2024
-3%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Burien
CrimeGrade™ estimates Burien has about 45 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 88% more than the US as a whole and 31% more than Washington.
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 Burien, about 41% of the total, followed by vehicle theft and vandalism.
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 Burien
Burien has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Car thefts happen most often at homes: 61% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (49%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (61%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
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.
Property crime in Burien and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Burien, 7 have less property crime. Vashon and Normandy Park have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Burien apart: it has 27 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 0.7 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Burien: C- (28 of 100).27 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 93% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 87% 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. 53% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (35 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.7.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.22% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 60% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Burien 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 property crime costs Burien
Property crime costs Burien about $14 million a year, or $387 per resident and about $984 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
$1.8 million
$51
Theft
$3.4 million
$94
Vehicle theft
$6.0 million
$168
Arson
$280,000
$8
Vandalism
$2.3 million
$65
Total
$14 million
$387
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.
