The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Anson County, NC
Anson County is home to 22,300 residents and includes Wadesboro and Polkton · Updated November 2026
Is Anson County, NC safe?
Yes, crime in Anson County is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Anson County sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 55% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Anson County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 860 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Anson County as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Anson County scores 860.
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 Anson County, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Anson 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 Anson County
Burglaries run high. Anson County has burglaries at about triple the US rate: 6.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Anson County, 67% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Anson County
In Anson County, 81% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 0% in areas graded C and 19% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Anson County run from A+ to F; 67% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
81%19%
A or B 81%D or F 19%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Anson 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 Polkton area has the least crime and the Wadesboro area the most.
Is crime going up in Anson County?
Reported violent crime in Anson County peaked in 2020 and has fallen 22% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 6% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.0 to 6.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 28 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Anson CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Anson County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Anson County
Violent, US
Property, Anson County
Property, US
2016
-25%
+4%
+13%
+15%
2017
-9%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
-2%
+0%
-7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+30%
+4%
+12%
-8%
2021
+5%
+6%
-20%
-10%
2022
+14%
+5%
-7%
-6%
2023
-10%
+2%
-8%
-7%
2024
+2%
-4%
-6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Anson County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Anson County has about 59 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 59% more than the US as a whole and 46% more than North Carolina.
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.
Assault is the most common crime in Anson County, about 37% of everything reported.
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 Anson County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Anson County, 2022 to 2024.
In Anson County, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 56% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (67%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (56%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (65%)
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 Anson County compares with nearby counties
Anson County has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest counties. Moore County and Montgomery County have the least crime nearby.
Walkability, density and night lighting in Anson County
Two things set Anson County apart: it has a Walk Grade of F (4 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 0% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
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. 97% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (4 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 98% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.under 1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 97% 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.25% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 95% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.13.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 92% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.30 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 87% 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 Anson County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Anson County about $2,430 a year per household, about double 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 $87 million a year, or $3,888 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$8.1 million
$364
Rape
$400,000
$18
Robbery
$310,000
$14
Assault
$6.0 million
$269
Burglary
$1.3 million
$60
Theft
$1.7 million
$77
Vehicle theft
$1,000,000
$45
Arson
$120,000
$5
Vandalism
$1.8 million
$80
Total
$21 million
$932
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 Anson 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 Anson County, NC average a SchoolGrade of D-: 45% of students test proficient, against 35% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Anson County on SchoolGrade
