The Houston metro area, the fifth-largest in the US, is home to 7.44 million residents; Houston itself is the largest city in Texas · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in the Houston area?
Property crime in the Houston area runs higher than in most US neighborhoods: a B, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live. Theft makes up 55% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades B+. The city of Houston itself grades C+ for property crime.
B
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 691 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
33% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than the Houston area as a whole, and 67% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Houston area scores 691.
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 Houston, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Houston area, 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 the Houston area
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages more often than nationally. In the Houston area, 53% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
One part of Houston stands out for arson. Arsons in East End, Northshore & Greater Fifth Ward, in east Houston, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in the Houston area
In the Houston area, 67% of residents live in areas graded A or B for property crime, 17% in areas graded C and 16% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across the Houston area run from A+ to F.
67%17%16%
A or B 67%C 17%D or F 16%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Houston
1Near Northwest & Greater Inwood, northwestBurglaries run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Houston.B-550
Neighborhood areas of the city of Houston, 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.
Cities and towns in the Houston metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Is property crime going up in the Houston area?
Reported property crime in the Houston area peaked in 2022 and has fallen 11% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 27 to 25 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Houston areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the Houston area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Houston area
Property, US
2016
+6%
+15%
2017
-1%
+12%
2018
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-4%
-8%
2021
-6%
-10%
2022
+3%
-6%
2023
-3%
-7%
2024
-8%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in the Houston area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Houston area has about 30 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 27% more than the US as a whole and close to Texas.
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 the Houston area, about 55% 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 the Houston area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Houston area, 2022 to 2024.
In the Houston area, 51% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 44% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (51%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
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 the Houston area and nearby metro areas
The Houston area has more property crime than 8 of its 10 nearest metro areas. The Jackson area and the Tulsa area have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Houston area. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Houston area has more property crime than 70% of them.
Empty homes, night lighting and density in the Houston area
The Houston area looks like a typical metro area on the traits that tend to go with property crime.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.7.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 81% of Americans in metro areas
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.95% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 78% of Americans in metro areas
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 56% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Houston area
Property crime costs the Houston area about $1.65 billion a year, or $222 per resident and about $654 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
$231 million
$31
Theft
$632 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$425 million
$57
Arson
$25 million
$3
Vandalism
$335 million
$45
Total
$1.65 billion
$222
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. These figures cover the whole Houston metro area. 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
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.
