Ames is the eighth-largest city in Iowa, with 71,300 residents in Story County · Updated November 2026
Is Ames, IA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Ames: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ames run from A+ to B+, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 893 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ames as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ames scores 893.
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 Ames, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ames, 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 Ames
Reported rapes run above the US rate. Ames has less crime than the US as a whole, 34% below the US rate, but more reported rapes: 0.64 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Burglaries run high in Downtown Ames. In this part of east Ames, they run at about double the rate in the rest of Ames.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Ames
Every part of Ames where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Ames run from A+ to B+; 79% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Northridge, northwestThefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Ames.A+967
2North Ames, North West Ames & Somer Street, northBurglaries run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Ames.A920
3College Creek, southwestClose to the rest of Ames on most crimes.A887
4Iowa State University, centralActs of vandalism run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Ames.A885
5Sawyer West & Ontario, westActs of vandalism run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Ames.A884
6Crawford, southClose to the rest of Ames on most crimes.A878
7Mitchel, southeastThefts run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Ames.A869
8Downtown Ames, eastActs of vandalism run about 90% higher here than in the rest of Ames.A-829
Neighborhood areas of Ames, 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.
Is crime going up in Ames?
Reported crime in Ames has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 32% and property crime down 20%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.1 to 1.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 14 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 16%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
AmesUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Ames. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Ames
Violent, US
Property, Ames
Property, US
2016
-21%
+4%
-8%
+15%
2017
-9%
+4%
+18%
+12%
2018
-18%
+0%
-8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-11%
+4%
+1%
-8%
2021
-2%
+6%
-23%
-10%
2022
+2%
+5%
-28%
-6%
2023
-18%
+2%
-23%
-7%
2024
-32%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Ames
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ames has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% less than the US as a whole and close to Iowa.
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 47% of crime reported in Ames. 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 Ames
Ames has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Ames, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 64% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (64%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
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.
Two things set Ames apart: it has 2.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 36% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
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 Ames: D (18 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 83% 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 and assault. 62% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.36% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 73% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 68% 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.7.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 63% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ames on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Ames
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ames about $602 a year per household, 50% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $41 million a year, or $574 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$810,000
$11
Rape
$2.7 million
$38
Robbery
$150,000
$2
Assault
$4.5 million
$63
Burglary
$1.0 million
$15
Theft
$4.2 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$910,000
$13
Arson
$47,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$24
Total
$16 million
$226
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 Ames 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 Ames, IA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 80% of students test proficient, against 66% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Ames on SchoolGrade
