Durham is a town of 13,500 in Strafford County, about 55 miles north of downtown Boston · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Durham?
Property crime is low in Durham: an A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 83% of Americans live. Theft makes up 49% 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 944 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
83% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Durham as a whole, and 17% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Durham scores 944.
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 Durham, NH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Durham, 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 Durham
Theft runs low. Durham has 2.2 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 13.1.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Durham
Every part of Durham where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Durham run from A+ to A.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Durham?
Reported property crime in Durham has fallen 17% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 2.6 to 2.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
DurhamUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Durham. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Durham
Property, US
2016
+74%
+15%
2017
+86%
+12%
2018
+25%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
-8%
2021
+14%
-10%
2022
+29%
-6%
2023
-25%
-7%
2024
-17%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Durham
CrimeGrade™ estimates Durham has about 4.5 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 81% less than the US as a whole and 68% less than New Hampshire.
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 Durham, about 49% 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 Durham
Durham has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (42%)
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 Durham and nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Durham, 5 have less property crime. Madbury and Eliot, ME have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Durham apart: it has 22.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of C (34 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson; here vandalism sits near the national middle.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.22.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% 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 (34 of 100)US: 21Higher 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 Durham: F (2 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.6.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 83% 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.47% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 82% of US city residents
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.71% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 77% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Durham 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 Durham
Property crime costs Durham about $410,000 a year, or $30 per resident and about $156 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
$19,000
$1
Theft
$150,000
$11
Vehicle theft
$38,000
$3
Arson
$9,600
$1
Vandalism
$190,000
$14
Total
$410,000
$30
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. Durham is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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.
