The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Akron, OH

The Akron metro area, the 86th-largest in the US, is home to 699,800 residents; Akron itself is the fifth-largest city in Ohio · Updated November 2026

Is Akron, OH safe?

Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in the Akron area is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so the Akron area sits near the middle: 42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. The city of Akron itself grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Akron area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.

A-
Overall CrimeGrade™Safety score 792 of 1,000
About as safe as the typical US neighborhood What this means

42% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Akron area as a whole, and 58% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Akron area scores 792.

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.

A-
Violent crimeSafety score 777 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoods
A-
Property crimeSafety score 816 of 1,000About as much property crime as the typical US neighborhood

How it works


Crime map of the Akron area

Map of the Akron area shaded by overall CrimeGrade™, from green for the least crime to red for the most
Click the map to explore
F D C B A+
Highest crime Safest
Colorblind friendly off

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 Akron, OH at ISP Reports.

Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Akron area, 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 the Akron area

One part of Akron stands out for robbery. Robberies in West Akron & Lane-Wooster, in west Akron, run at about triple the rate in the rest of the city.


The safest and most dangerous places in the Akron area

Most of the Akron area grades well: 82% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 12% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Akron area run from A+ to F; 65% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.

A or B 82%C 6%D or F 12%

Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.

Neighborhoods of Akron

  1. 1Northwest Akron, Wallhaven & Merriman Valley, northwestCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Akron.A-791
  2. 2Chapel Hill, northeastClose to the rest of Akron on most crimes.C+525
  3. 3Ellet & East Akron, southeastCar thefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Akron.C+524
  4. 4Firestone Park & South Akron, southBurglaries run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Akron.C390
  5. 5Kenmore, southwestRobberies run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Akron.C-383
  6. 6North Hill & Highland Square, northRobberies run at about double the rate in the rest of Akron.C-370
  7. 7Goodyear Heights & Middlebury, eastClose to the rest of Akron on most crimes.C-357
  8. 8University of Ohio Akron, Downtown Akron & Summit Lake, centralCar thefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Akron.D212
  9. 9West Akron & Lane-Wooster, westAggravated assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Akron.F0

Neighborhood areas of the city of Akron, ranked by overall 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.

Cities and towns in the metro area

Least crime

  1. 1Hiram Rapids1,070A+982
  2. 2Aurora18,500A+975
  3. 3Nelson1,400A+974
  4. 4Palmyra1,020A+974
  5. 5Hudson24,400A+972

Most crime

  1. 1Barberton26,700A-771
  2. 2Lakemore3,860A-798
  3. 3Silver Lake2,520A-821
  4. 4Portage Lakes6,140A-844
  5. 5Cuyahoga Falls48,300A848

Cities and towns in the Akron metro area 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 area, the Northfield, Richfield, and Montrose-Ghent areas have the least crime and the Cuyahoga Falls area the most.


Is crime going up in the Akron area?

Reported crime in the Akron area has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 19% and property crime down 16%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.8 to 3.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 21 to 18 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.

Violent crime, change since 2019

Property crime, change since 2019

Akron areaUnited States

Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the Akron area. The charts follow crimes per resident.

Data table
YearViolent, Akron areaViolent, USProperty, Akron areaProperty, US
2016-31%+4%+24%+15%
2017-27%+4%+24%+12%
2018-4%+0%+8%+4%
2019+0%+0%+0%+0%
2020+1%+4%+4%-8%
2021-15%+6%-2%-10%
2022-16%+5%-4%-6%
2023-16%+2%-13%-7%
2024-19%-4%-16%-15%

Crime rates and types in the Akron area

CrimeGrade™ estimates the Akron area has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to Ohio.

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.

The largest share of crime reported in the Akron area is assault, about 38% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.

CrimeCrimeGrade™Reported a yearPer 1,000 residentsUS per 1,000
Violent crime
MurderA290.040.05
RapeB3510.500.38
RobberyA1980.280.62
AssaultB10,16714.512.3
Property crime
BurglaryA1,1811.72.4
TheftB+9,75613.913.1
Vehicle theftA1,0981.62.7
ArsonA650.090.12
VandalismB+4,2116.05.5

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 the Akron area

These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Akron area, 2022 to 2024.

In the Akron area, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 33% of them, against 31% nationally.

CrimeMost often atBusiest time
BurglaryHomes (70%)Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theftHomes (36%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from carsParking lots and garages (33%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
VandalismHomes (47%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
RobberyHomes (26%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assaultHomes (58%)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 the Akron area compares with nearby metro areas

The Akron area has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest metro areas.

Nearby metro areas

PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Akron areaA-792A-A-699,800
Cleveland 29 milesB+736B+A-2.17 million
Pittsburgh 92 milesA866AA2.44 million
Columbus 107 milesA-774A-A-2.18 million
Toledo 115 milesB+739BA-602,300
Show all 10
PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Detroit 122 milesB+703BA-4.38 million
Dayton 168 milesB+755B+A-816,100
Buffalo 189 milesB+764A-B+1.16 million
Cincinnati 206 milesA-831A-A-2.27 million
Rochester 246 milesA-836AA-1.06 million
Grand Rapids 248 milesA847A-A1.16 million

Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Akron area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).

Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Akron area has more crime than 62% of them.

Metro areas of similar size and density

PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Akron areaA-792A-A-699,800
Des MoinesA879AA731,100
JacksonA859A-A611,300
LakelandA-832A-A790,700
Daytona BeachA-830A-A706,200
Show all 10
PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
MelbourneA-817A-A632,800
AugustaA-802A-A-624,200
Winston-SalemB+768B+A-689,800
GreensboroB+751B+A-786,400
Little RockB688BB+758,600
WichitaB680BB652,600

Transit, density and night lighting in the Akron area

One thing sets the Akron area apart: it has 8% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft; here robbery and car theft sit near the national middle.

Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Akron area: D (16 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans in metro areas
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 85% of Americans in metro areas
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 58% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.6.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 52% of Americans in metro areas

BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of the Akron area on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more. Its Walk Grade for the Akron area is D (15 of 100).

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 the Akron area

Crime costs the Akron area about $1,013 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 16% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $298 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 $938 million a year, or $1,340 per resident.

How the cost breaks down
CrimeCost a yearPer resident
Murder$55 million$78
Rape$21 million$30
Robbery$6.2 million$9
Assault$107 million$153
Burglary$11 million$15
Theft$50 million$72
Vehicle theft$17 million$24
Arson$1.5 million$2
Vandalism$30 million$43
Total$298 million$426

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 the Akron area 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. These figures cover the whole Akron metro area. 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
  • Population and housing figures from the US Census Bureau
  • 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.

More about CrimeGrade™ data


Schools in the Akron area

Schools in the Akron area average a SchoolGrade of B-: 60% of students test proficient, against 47% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in the Akron area on SchoolGrade