Waterloo is the ninth-largest city in Iowa, with 67,400 residents in Black Hawk County · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Waterloo?
Waterloo earns an A- for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 57% of Americans live. Theft makes up 51% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades B, and vehicle theft grades A+.
A-
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 783 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
43% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Waterloo as a whole, and 57% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Waterloo scores 783.
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 Waterloo, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Waterloo, 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 Waterloo
Burglaries run high for a city with an A for property crime. Waterloo has 4.7 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a US city graded A for property crime, the figure is 1.2.
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Property crime in Waterloo runs 30% above the US rate, but car thefts run 29% below it: 1.9 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Waterloo
Most of Waterloo grades well for property crime: 84% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Waterloo run from A+ to C-.
84%16%
A or B 84%C 16%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Waterloo?
Reported property crime in Waterloo has fallen 13% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 28 to 24 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 15%.
Property crime, change since 2019
WaterlooUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Waterloo. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Waterloo
Property, US
2016
+13%
+15%
2017
+4%
+12%
2018
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-5%
-8%
2021
-5%
-10%
2022
-9%
-6%
2023
-24%
-7%
2024
-13%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Waterloo
CrimeGrade™ estimates Waterloo has about 31 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% more than the US as a whole and 74% more than Iowa.
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 Waterloo, about 51% 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.
The Waterloo 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.
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 Waterloo
Waterloo has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Waterloo, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 55% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (61%)
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 Waterloo and nearby cities
Waterloo has the most property crime of its 5 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Waterloo. 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, Waterloo has more property crime than 81% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, one sets Waterloo apart: it has 4.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 95% 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 Waterloo: D- (10 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 66% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (25 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 76% 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.8.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 73% 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.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower 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 Waterloo
Property crime costs Waterloo about $15 million a year, or $217 per resident and about $507 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
$2.9 million
$43
Theft
$5.5 million
$82
Vehicle theft
$2.0 million
$29
Arson
$390,000
$6
Vandalism
$3.9 million
$58
Total
$15 million
$217
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.
