Property Crime per Capita in Columbus
Property crime covers theft, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson, offenses against belongings rather than people. The map below shows the property crime rate per 1,000 Columbus residents.
Safest
Highest crime
Colorblind friendly
off
C-
B- |
|
Property Crime Grade |
C- |
Other Crime Grade |
D+ |
$275.1 million
Cost of Crime™ for Columbus, OH
In 2025, property crime will cost $315 per household.
On the map, green marks the parts of the Columbus area with the least property crime and red marks the most, weighted by the type and severity of each offense. Property crime is the most common category of crime, so these maps track closely with where stores, parking, and daytime foot traffic sit. The Interpreting the Crime Maps section below explains why busy commercial blocks can look worse than the neighborhoods around them.
The C- grade reflects how often theft, burglary, vehicle theft, and arson happen in the Columbus area against the average US city, where the rate is slightly higher than the norm. Columbus sits in the 35th percentile for property-crime safety, ahead of 35% of cities and behind 65%. The grade covers only the Columbus area's official city boundaries. See the table below for nearby cities.
The property crime rate in the Columbus area is 15.88 per 1,000 residents in a typical year. Residents generally point to the northwest part of the city as the safest for their belongings. Your odds of a property-crime loss range from 1 in 43 in the central neighborhoods to 1 in 87 in the northwest.
Counting total incidents instead of per-capita rates, the central parts of Columbus, OH report the most property crime, about 9,562 cases per year. The northeast part reports the fewest, around 1,287 per year.
The Cost of Crime™ in Columbus, OH
Property crime in Columbus is projected to cost $275,068,061 in 2025, about $124 per resident and $315 per household. That equals 0.3% of the median household income. All of it is measurable loss: replaced vehicles, repaired break-ins, stolen goods, and the policing and courts that respond. Because property crime leaves a repair bill rather than a lasting injury, these tangible costs make up its full economic toll. They split into:- Criminal justice system costs (law enforcement, courts, and imprisonment): 61.2%
- Direct costs to victims (damaged property, medical expenses, and lost wages): 33.0%
- Lost economic contribution from offenders (time in prison or repeat offenses): 5.8%
How Much Does Property Crime Cost in Columbus Compared to Other Cities?
| Columbus, OH: | $124 |
|---|---|
| East Cleveland, OH: | $363 |
| Apple Valley, OH: | $26 |
| Ohio: | $120 |
| USA: | $136 |
Property crime costs $124 per resident each year in Columbus, which is $12 less than the national average and $3 more than Ohio's state average. The comparison below uses cities similar to Columbus:
- In East Cleveland, OH, crime costs $363 per person, which is $239 more than in Columbus.
- In Apple Valley, OH, crime costs $26 per person, which is $98 less than in Columbus
2025 Projected Property Crime Cost by Type
The table below breaks the property-crime total into its four offenses for Columbus, with the projected cost per resident.Crime |
Cost to Columbus |
Cost per Columbus Resident |
|---|---|---|
Vehicle Theft |
$106.3 million |
$48 |
Burglary |
$41.0 million |
$18 |
Theft |
$123.0 million |
$55 |
Arson |
$4.76 million |
$2 |
Total Cost of Property Crime |
$275,068,061 |
$124 |
How the Property Crime Cost Is Estimated
Property crime carries no pain-and-suffering figure in this model. Its cost is the replacement and repair value of what was taken or damaged, plus the policing, courts, and lost offender productivity that follow. Stolen and damaged property has a market price, which is why this total is easier to pin down than the human cost of violent crime in Columbus, OH. All Cost of Crime figures come from scholarly research on the cost of crime. Read more about our methodology here.Interpreting the Property Crime Maps
Property crime rates are measured per resident, so places where shoppers and commuters outnumber residents read high. Stores are where shoplifting, theft, and vehicle break-ins happen, yet almost nobody lives there, so the per-capita rate climbs. How strongly this shows on the map depends on retail density; the central part of the city has more retail establishments. A red commercial strip does not mean the homes nearby are unsafe.
Parking lots and transit stops follow the same pattern: heavy daytime traffic, few residents, so per-capita property crime reads high. Major airports, of which the Columbus area has 1, are the extreme case. To judge a residential block, weigh both the per-capita rate and the total number of incidents, and note what sits nearby.
The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Columbus, OH at ISP Reports.Columbus Property Crime Breakdown
The table below shows which non-violent crimes are used to calculate the Crime Grade above. All property crime rates are shown as the number of crimes per 1,000 Columbus residents in a standard year.
Crime Type |
Crime Rate |
|---|---|
Theft |
10.68 |
Vehicle Theft |
3.085 |
Burglary |
2.033 |
Arson |
0.0887 |
Total Property Crime |
15.88 (C-) |
Individual Columbus Crime Maps & Stats
Crime Maps and Rates for Nearby Cities
Compared to surrounding cities, the rate of property crime in the Columbus area is lower. The table below shows Crime Grades for cities close to the Columbus area.
Nearby City | Overall Crime Grade | Violent Crime Grade | Property Crime Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
C- | B+ | C+ | |
C | A- | C+ | |
C- | D- | C+ | |
F | D- | F | |
D | B+ | D | |
D- | C- | D | |
D | B+ | D+ | |
D | A | D | |
F | C- | F | |
F | D- | F |
Crime Maps and Rates for City with Similar Populations
Columbus is similar versus other cities of the same size for property crime. The table below compares crime in cities with comparable overall population in the city‘s boundaries.
Similar City | Overall Crime Grade | Violent Crime Grade | Property Crime Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
C+ | C- | C- | |
D | D- | D- | |
D+ | D+ | D+ | |
C+ | C+ | C+ | |
D+ | D | D | |
D | D+ | D+ | |
C- | C+ | C+ | |
D | D | D | |
C- | C | C | |
B- | B | B |
Considering only the property crime rate, the Columbus area is as safe as the Ohio state average and safer than the national average.
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