The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Arlington, TN
Arlington is a town of 28,300 in Shelby County, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Memphis · Updated November 2026
Is Arlington, TN safe?
Yes, crime in Arlington is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Arlington 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 Arlington run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 861 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
55% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Arlington as a whole, and 45% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Arlington scores 861.
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 Arlington, TN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Arlington, 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 Arlington
Vehicle theft stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.93 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Arlington has 2.6.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Arlington, 67% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Arlington
Every part of Arlington where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Arlington run from A+ to B-; 53% 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.
Within Arlington, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Arlington?
Reported crime in Arlington has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 18% and property crime down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.9 to 4.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 23 to 18 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ArlingtonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Arlington. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Arlington
Violent, US
Property, Arlington
Property, US
2016
+4%
+4%
-0%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
+9%
+12%
2018
+23%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+8%
+4%
-16%
-8%
2021
-5%
+6%
-20%
-10%
2022
-6%
+5%
-24%
-6%
2023
-19%
+2%
-20%
-7%
2024
-18%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Arlington
CrimeGrade™ estimates Arlington has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 29% less than the US as a whole and 44% less than Tennessee.
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 Arlington is simple assault, about 35% of the total. It also makes up the largest share of what crime costs here.
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 Arlington
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office polices Arlington, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Arlington, 77% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (77%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (80%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (67%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Homes (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (64%)
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 Arlington compares with nearby cities
Arlington has less crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities.
Two things set Arlington apart: it has a Walk Grade of F (4 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 18 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, yet assault runs higher here than that would suggest.
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. 98% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (4 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 94% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.18 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 90% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 89% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 87% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 82% of US city residents
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.83% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 69% 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 crime costs Arlington
Crime costs Arlington about $853 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 29% 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 $24 million a year, or $849 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1,000,000
$35
Rape
$400,000
$14
Robbery
$99,000
$4
Aggravated assault
$1.7 million
$60
Simple assault
$1.9 million
$68
Burglary
$280,000
$10
Theft
$1.3 million
$45
Vehicle theft
$1.1 million
$40
Arson
$45,000
$2
Vandalism
$400,000
$14
Total
$8.2 million
$292
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 Arlington 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 Arlington, TN average a SchoolGrade of B-: 42% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Arlington on SchoolGrade
