Erie is a city of 164,900 in Erie County and the main city of the Erie metro area, home to 269,100 · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Erie?
Property crime in Erie sits near the national middle: an A-, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Theft makes up 60% 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 822 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Erie as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Erie scores 822.
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 Erie, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Erie, 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 Erie
One part of Erie stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in East Erie, Downtown Erie & West Erie, in north Erie, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Burglaries happen at homes more often than nationally. In Erie, 81% of reported burglaries happen at homes, against 57% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Erie
Low property crime is the norm across Erie: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Erie run from A+ to C-.
91%
A or B 91%C 9%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Kearsarge, southBurglaries run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Erie.A883
2Robbins Blass & Greater Kahkwa, westClose to the rest of Erie on most crimes.A851
7East Erie, Downtown Erie & West Erie, northBurglaries run at about double the rate in the rest of Erie.B672
Neighborhood areas of Erie, 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 Erie?
Reported property crime in Erie peaked in 2022 and has fallen 16% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 19 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
ErieUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Erie. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Erie
Property, US
2016
+22%
+15%
2017
+22%
+12%
2018
+3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+1%
-8%
2021
+7%
-10%
2022
+20%
-6%
2023
-1%
-7%
2024
+1%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Erie
CrimeGrade™ estimates Erie has about 21 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 10% less than the US as a whole and close to Pennsylvania.
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 Erie, about 60% 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 Erie
Erie has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 41% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (81%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
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 Erie and nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to Erie, 6 have less property crime. Phillipsville and Hammett have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, one sets Erie apart: it has 7 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft than places with only one of them; here theft sits near the national middle.
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. 60% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% 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 Erie: D+ (20 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.26% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 62% 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.6.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 59% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Erie 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 Erie
Property crime costs Erie about $22 million a year, or $136 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
$2.0 million
$12
Theft
$11 million
$66
Vehicle theft
$1.6 million
$10
Arson
$510,000
$3
Vandalism
$7.4 million
$45
Total
$22 million
$136
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.
