The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Adams County, CO
Adams County is home to 530,200 residents and includes Thornton and Commerce City · Updated November 2026
Is Adams County, CO safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Adams County has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Adams County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 649 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Adams County as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Adams County scores 649.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Adams County, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Adams County, 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 in Adams County
Vehicle theft at more than double the US rate. Adams County has 7.4 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Reported rape stands out among B-graded counties. For the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 0.41 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Adams County has 0.77.
The safest and most dangerous places in Adams County
In Adams County, 61% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 21% in areas graded C and 18% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Adams County run from A+ to F; 11% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
61%21%18%
A or B 61%C 21%D or F 18%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Adams County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Commerce City area has the least crime and the Derby area the most.
Is crime going up in Adams County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Adams County is up 11%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.8 to 5.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 30 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Adams CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Adams County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Adams County
Violent, US
Property, Adams County
Property, US
2016
-8%
+4%
+8%
+15%
2017
+3%
+4%
+6%
+12%
2018
+5%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+14%
+4%
+10%
-8%
2021
+27%
+6%
+25%
-10%
2022
+26%
+5%
+23%
-6%
2023
+18%
+2%
+0%
-7%
2024
+11%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Adams County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Adams County has about 56 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 50% more than the US as a whole and 17% more than Colorado.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft makes up about 36% of crime reported in Adams County. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 crime happens in Adams County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Adams County, 2022 to 2024.
In Adams County, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 42% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (44%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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.
How Adams County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Adams County, 8 have less crime. Elbert County and Clear Creek County have the least.
Empty homes, shops and walkability in Adams County
Two things set Adams County apart: it has 3.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 37% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary and arson, yet burglary and arson run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.3.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 96% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 83% of Americans
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. 81% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 56% of Americans
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.37% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of Americans
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.97% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 73% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Adams County: D+ (20 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% of Americans
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 crime costs Adams County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Adams County about $1,993 a year per household, 65% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $356 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $1.07 billion a year, or $2,021 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$53 million
$100
Rape
$25 million
$47
Robbery
$13 million
$25
Assault
$92 million
$174
Burglary
$17 million
$32
Theft
$55 million
$103
Vehicle theft
$60 million
$113
Arson
$3.4 million
$6
Vandalism
$38 million
$71
Total
$356 million
$671
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Adams County means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Adams County, CO average a SchoolGrade of D-: 26% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Adams County on SchoolGrade
