Thornton is a city of 90,300 in Adams County, about 11 miles north of downtown Denver · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Thornton?
Property crime is high in Thornton: a C, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 82% of Americans live. Theft makes up 52% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B+, and vehicle theft grades C.
C
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 418 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
18% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Thornton as a whole, and 82% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Thornton scores 418.
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 Thornton, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Thornton, 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 Thornton
Vehicle theft at more than double the US rate. Thornton has 6.1 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages more often than nationally. In Thornton, 52% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Thornton
Property crime changes a lot from one part of Thornton to the next: 24% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 53% live in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Thornton run from A to F.
24%23%53%
A or B 24%C 23%D or F 53%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Thornton?
Reported property crime in Thornton peaked in 2021 and has fallen 20% since, back near its 2019 level. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 30 to 28 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
ThorntonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Thornton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Thornton
Property, US
2016
+6%
+15%
2017
+10%
+12%
2018
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+9%
-8%
2021
+19%
-10%
2022
+18%
-6%
2023
+1%
-7%
2024
-4%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Thornton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Thornton has about 39 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 64% more than the US as a whole and close to Colorado.
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 Thornton, about 52% 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 Thornton
Thornton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Thornton, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 49% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
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 Thornton and nearby cities
Thornton has less property crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Thornton. 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, Thornton has more property crime than 98% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Thornton apart: it has 4.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 3.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.4.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 93% 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.3.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 80% 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 65% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.26 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 77% 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.41% of residentsUS: 24%Higher 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 Thornton: D+ (19 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% 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 Thornton
Property crime costs Thornton about $27 million a year, or $296 per resident and about $882 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
$2.3 million
$25
Theft
$9.3 million
$103
Vehicle theft
$8.4 million
$93
Arson
$490,000
$5
Vandalism
$6.2 million
$68
Total
$27 million
$296
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.
