Lafayette is the fourth-largest city in Louisiana, with 142,500 residents in Lafayette Parish · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Lafayette?
Lafayette grades B for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Theft makes up 63% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades C+, and vehicle theft grades B+.
B
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 643 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Lafayette as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lafayette scores 643.
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 Lafayette, LA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lafayette, 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 Lafayette
Burglaries run high for a city with a B for property crime. Lafayette has 5.9 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.
Theft at about double the US rate. Lafayette has 28.2 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Lafayette
Most of Lafayette grades well for property crime: 66% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 10% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Lafayette run from A to F.
66%24%10%
A or B 66%C 24%D or F 10%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Lafayette?
Reported property crime in Lafayette has held about steady since 2019, within 1%. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 43 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
LafayetteUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Lafayette. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Lafayette
Property, US
2016
+17%
+15%
2017
+8%
+12%
2018
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+9%
-8%
2021
-11%
-10%
2022
+2%
-6%
2023
+8%
-7%
2024
-0%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Lafayette
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lafayette has about 45 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 87% more than the US as a whole and 50% more than Louisiana.
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 Lafayette, about 63% 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.
Property crime in Lafayette and nearby cities
Lafayette has the most property crime of its 10 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Lafayette. 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, Lafayette has more property crime than 82% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Lafayette apart: it has 17.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 70 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 94% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.70 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 86% 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. 73% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (22 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Show all 6
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Lafayette: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.9.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 83% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 65% 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 Lafayette
Property crime costs Lafayette about $43 million a year, or $305 per resident and about $725 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
$7.6 million
$53
Theft
$21 million
$145
Vehicle theft
$8.6 million
$60
Arson
$72,000
$1
Vandalism
$6.6 million
$46
Total
$43 million
$305
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.
