Falls Church is a city of 58,900 in Fairfax County, about 7 miles west of downtown Washington · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Falls Church?
Property crime in Falls Church runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B+, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Theft makes up 70% 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 722 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
36% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Falls Church as a whole, and 64% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Falls Church scores 722.
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 Falls Church, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Falls Church, 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 Falls Church
Burglaries are less common than in most cities graded B for property crime. Falls Church has 0.55 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded B for property crime, the figure is 2.7.
One part of Falls Church stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Bailey's Crossroads & Lake Barcroft, in southeast Falls Church, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Falls Church
Low property crime is the norm across Falls Church: 78% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Falls Church run from A to D+.
78%17%
A or B 78%C 17%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Pimmit Hills, northwestActs of vandalism run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Falls Church.A-799
2Merrifield, southwestThefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Falls Church.A-797
3Madison Condominium, Hillwood-Buffalo Park & Larchmont Terrace, centralThefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Falls Church.A-793
Neighborhood areas of Falls Church, 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.
Property crime rates and types in Falls Church
CrimeGrade™ estimates Falls Church has about 25 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 7% more than the US as a whole and 17% more than Virginia.
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 Falls Church, about 70% 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 Falls Church
Falls Church has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 47% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (38%)
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 Falls Church and nearby cities
Falls Church has more property crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities. McLean and Woodburn have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Falls Church. 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, Falls Church is safer than 76% of them.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Falls Church
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Falls Church apart: it has 21 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 0.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with busy transit 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
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Falls Church: D (13 of 100).21 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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+ (42 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 89% 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.50% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 82% 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 Falls Church
Property crime costs Falls Church about $9.3 million a year, or $157 per resident and about $443 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
$290,000
$5
Theft
$5.4 million
$91
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$20
Arson
$15,000
under $1
Vandalism
$2.4 million
$41
Total
$9.3 million
$157
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.
