The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Artesia, NM
Artesia is a city of 14,900 in Eddy County, about 30 miles north of downtown Carlsbad · Updated November 2026
Is Artesia, NM safe?
Yes, crime in Artesia is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Artesia sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 51% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Artesia run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 843 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
51% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Artesia as a whole, and 49% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Artesia scores 843.
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 Artesia, NM at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Artesia, 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 Artesia
Burglaries run high for an A-graded city. Artesia has 3.8 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Reported rape is the exception. Artesia grades A for violent crime, but reported rape grades B-, worse than in the neighborhoods where 85% of Americans live.
The safest and least safe parts of Artesia
Every part of Artesia where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Artesia run from A+ to B; 26% 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 Artesia, the northwest side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Artesia?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Artesia is down 32%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.3 to 4.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 31 to 21 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 99% and property crime fell 24%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ArtesiaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Artesia. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Artesia
Violent, US
Property, Artesia
Property, US
2016
+66%
+4%
+42%
+15%
2017
+147%
+4%
+13%
+12%
2018
+179%
+0%
+24%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-29%
+4%
-15%
-8%
2021
-43%
+6%
-22%
-10%
2022
-31%
+5%
-15%
-6%
2023
-60%
+2%
-10%
-7%
2024
-9%
-4%
-32%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Artesia
CrimeGrade™ estimates Artesia has about 45 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 22% more than the US as a whole and 28% less than New Mexico.
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 Artesia, about 33% of everything reported, and it also accounts for 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 Artesia
Artesia has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Artesia, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 55% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (67%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (55%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
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; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars.
How Artesia compares with nearby cities
Artesia has the most crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Empty homes, parking lots and walkability in Artesia
Two things set Artesia apart: it has 10.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 3.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.10.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 85% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Artesia: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 66% 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.88% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 63% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Artesia 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 Artesia
Crime costs Artesia about $1,257 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $21 million a year, or $1,399 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$550,000
$37
Rape
$920,000
$62
Robbery
$72,000
$5
Assault
$2.6 million
$175
Burglary
$510,000
$34
Theft
$1.1 million
$73
Vehicle theft
$370,000
$25
Arson
$70,000
$5
Vandalism
$970,000
$65
Total
$7.2 million
$480
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 Artesia 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 Artesia, NM average a SchoolGrade of A-: 44% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Artesia on SchoolGrade
