Essex is a town of 22,400 in Chittenden County, about 6 miles east of downtown Burlington · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Essex?
Property crime in Essex sits near the national middle: an A-, safer than the neighborhoods where 54% of Americans live. Theft makes up 69% 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 842 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Essex as a whole, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Essex scores 842.
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 Essex, VT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Essex, 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 Essex
Theft stands out among cities graded A for property crime. For the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 8.1 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Essex has 15.1.
Burglary runs low. Essex has 0.93 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.4.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Essex
Every part of Essex where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Essex run from A to B+.
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 Essex?
Reported property crime in Essex has risen 32% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 12 to 16 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 18%.
Property crime, change since 2019
EssexUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Essex. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Essex
Property, US
2016
+20%
+15%
2017
-0%
+12%
2018
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+12%
-8%
2021
+23%
-10%
2022
+10%
-6%
2023
+12%
-7%
2024
+32%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Essex
CrimeGrade™ estimates Essex has about 22 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% less than the US as a whole and close to Vermont.
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 Essex, about 69% 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 Essex
Essex has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Essex, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 39% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (38%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (29%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Essex and nearby cities
Essex has less property crime than 4 of its 8 nearest cities.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Essex
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Essex apart: it has 1.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 45% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.1.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 96% 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.45% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher 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.6% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 72% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 66% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Essex 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 Essex
Property crime costs Essex about $3.1 million a year, or $138 per resident and about $333 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
$190,000
$8
Theft
$1.7 million
$77
Vehicle theft
$420,000
$19
Arson
$21,000
$1
Vandalism
$740,000
$33
Total
$3.1 million
$138
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.
