Meriden is the tenth-largest city in Connecticut, with 60,000 residents in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, about 17 miles northeast of downtown New Haven · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Meriden?
Property crime in Meriden sits near the national middle: an A-, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live. Theft makes up 66% 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 809 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
47% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Meriden as a whole, and 53% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Meriden scores 809.
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 Meriden, CT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Meriden, 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 Meriden
Car thefts run high for a city with an A for property crime. Meriden has 1.7 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 0.91.
Burglary runs low. Meriden has 0.90 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.4.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Meriden
Low property crime is the norm across Meriden: 94% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Meriden run from A to C.
94%
A or B 94%C 6%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Property crime rates and types in Meriden
CrimeGrade™ estimates Meriden has about 18 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 25% less than the US as a whole and close to Connecticut.
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 Meriden, about 66% 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.
The Meriden Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months. The department counts vandalism differently from the national definition, so CrimeGrade™ makes its own vandalism estimate.
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 Meriden
Meriden has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Meriden, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 38% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (38%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (42%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
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 Meriden and nearby cities
Meriden has more property crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities. Middlefield and Rockfall have the least property crime nearby.
Meriden looks like a typical city on the traits that tend to go with property crime.
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. 69% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (24 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 72% 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 Meriden: D+ (19 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 65% 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.26% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 64% 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.1.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 63% 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.7.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 62% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Meriden 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 Meriden
Property crime costs Meriden about $7.2 million a year, or $120 per resident and about $301 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
$480,000
$8
Theft
$3.6 million
$61
Vehicle theft
$1.5 million
$26
Arson
$88,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.5 million
$25
Total
$7.2 million
$120
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.
