Columbia Heights, MN Property Crime Rates and Maps
Columbia Heights is a city of 22,200 in Anoka County, about 5 miles north of downtown Minneapolis · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Columbia Heights?
Property crime is high in Columbia Heights: a B, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 73% of Americans live. Theft makes up 55% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A-, and vehicle theft grades B-.
B
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 616 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
27% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Columbia Heights as a whole, and 73% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Columbia Heights scores 616.
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 Columbia Heights, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Columbia Heights, 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
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Columbia Heights
Low property crime is the norm across Columbia Heights: 85% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Columbia Heights run from A- to C.
85%15%
A or B 85%C 15%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Columbia Heights?
Reported property crime in Columbia Heights peaked in 2020 and has fallen 16% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 24 to 23 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 27%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Columbia HeightsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Columbia Heights. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Columbia Heights
Property, US
2016
+10%
+15%
2017
+20%
+12%
2018
+3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+14%
-8%
2021
-13%
-10%
2022
-5%
-6%
2023
-24%
-7%
2024
-4%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Columbia Heights
CrimeGrade™ estimates Columbia Heights has about 27 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% more than the US as a whole and 24% more than Minnesota.
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 Columbia Heights, about 55% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
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 Columbia Heights
Columbia Heights has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Columbia Heights, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 41% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (56%)
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 Columbia Heights and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Columbia Heights, 7 have less property crime. Arden Hills and Mounds View have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Columbia Heights. 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, Columbia Heights has more property crime than 88% of them.
Night lighting, walkability and transit in Columbia Heights
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Columbia Heights apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (40 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 9 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
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
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.C+ (40 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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 Columbia Heights: C- (30 of 100).9 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.24 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 78% 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.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% 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 Columbia Heights
Property crime costs Columbia Heights about $4.5 million a year, or $204 per resident and about $519 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
$330,000
$15
Theft
$1.7 million
$77
Vehicle theft
$1.5 million
$68
Arson
$37,000
$2
Vandalism
$930,000
$42
Total
$4.5 million
$204
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.
