Schenectady is a city of 134,400 in Schenectady County, about 13 miles northwest of downtown Albany · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Schenectady?
Schenectady earns a B for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 69% of Americans live. Theft makes up 59% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A-, and vehicle theft grades A.
B
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 666 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
31% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Schenectady as a whole, and 69% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Schenectady scores 666.
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 Schenectady, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Schenectady, 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 Schenectady
One part of Schenectady stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Hamilton Hills, Vale and Eastern Avenue & Central State, in central Schenectady, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Schenectady, 40% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Schenectady
Property crime varies widely across Schenectady: 61% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 29% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Schenectady run from A+ to F.
61%10%29%
A or B 61%C 10%D or F 29%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Downtown Schenectady, northCar thefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Schenectady.B-611
2Mt. Pleasant, westCar thefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Schenectady.B-583
Neighborhood areas of Schenectady, 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.
Is property crime going up in Schenectady?
Reported property crime in Schenectady has risen 14% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 27 to 31 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
SchenectadyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Schenectady. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Schenectady
Property, US
2016
+20%
+15%
2017
+16%
+12%
2018
+19%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-12%
-8%
2021
-5%
-10%
2022
+26%
-6%
2023
+18%
-7%
2024
+14%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Schenectady
CrimeGrade™ estimates Schenectady has about 33 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 39% more than the US as a whole and 45% more than New York.
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 Schenectady, about 59% 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.
Where and when property crime happens in Schenectady
Schenectady has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Schenectady, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 44% of them, against 27% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
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 Schenectady and nearby cities
Schenectady has more property crime than 6 of its 7 nearest cities. Rexford and Guilderland have the least property crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Schenectady. 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, Schenectady has more property crime than 77% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, one sets Schenectady apart: it has 7 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
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. 64% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (27 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 77% 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 Schenectady: D+ (21 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 75% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.29% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 67% 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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 66% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.36 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 59% 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 Schenectady
Property crime costs Schenectady about $29 million a year, or $213 per resident and about $545 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
$3.2 million
$24
Theft
$13 million
$100
Vehicle theft
$2.6 million
$19
Arson
$400,000
$3
Vandalism
$9.1 million
$67
Total
$29 million
$213
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.
