Wauwatosa is a city of 48,700 in Milwaukee County, about 6 miles west of downtown Milwaukee · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Wauwatosa?
Wauwatosa earns an A- for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Theft makes up 70% 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 823 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Wauwatosa as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Wauwatosa scores 823.
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 Wauwatosa, WI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Wauwatosa, 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 Wauwatosa
One part of Wauwatosa stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Tosa East Towne, in east Wauwatosa, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Wauwatosa
Most of Wauwatosa grades well for property crime: 86% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 6% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Wauwatosa run from A to D-.
86%
A or B 86%C 8%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Glenview Heights & Bluemound Manor, southThefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Wauwatosa.A881
2Timmerman West, northwestCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Wauwatosa.A859
3Fisher Woods & Mayfair Park, westThefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Wauwatosa.A-838
4Tosa Heights, northClose to the rest of Wauwatosa on most crimes.A-831
5Quarry Heights, Wellaur Park & Tosa Village, southeastCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Wauwatosa.B673
6Tosa East Towne, eastThefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Wauwatosa.B-595
Neighborhood areas of Wauwatosa, 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 Wauwatosa?
Reported property crime in Wauwatosa has fallen 15% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 28 to 24 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
WauwatosaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Wauwatosa. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Wauwatosa
Property, US
2016
+38%
+15%
2017
+28%
+12%
2018
-7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-14%
-8%
2021
-3%
-10%
2022
-10%
-6%
2023
-12%
-7%
2024
-15%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Wauwatosa
CrimeGrade™ estimates Wauwatosa has about 28 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 16% more than the US as a whole and 73% more than Wisconsin.
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 Wauwatosa, about 70% 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 Wauwatosa
Wauwatosa has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Wauwatosa, 50% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 38% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (50%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (37%)
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 Wauwatosa and nearby cities
Wauwatosa has less property crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Wauwatosa. 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, Wauwatosa is safer than 54% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Wauwatosa apart: it has 136 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 17.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft than places with only one of them, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.136 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% 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. 51% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (35 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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 Wauwatosa: C (37 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 85% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 73% 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 Wauwatosa
Property crime costs Wauwatosa about $9.1 million a year, or $188 per resident and about $411 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
$630,000
$13
Theft
$4.8 million
$99
Vehicle theft
$2.4 million
$49
Arson
$42,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.3 million
$26
Total
$9.1 million
$188
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.
