The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Bay City, TX
Bay City is a city of 21,300 in Matagorda County, about 65 miles southwest of downtown Houston · Updated November 2026
Is Bay City, TX safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Bay City is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Bay City sits near the middle: 43% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 57% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Bay City run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 799 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
43% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Bay City as a whole, and 57% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Bay City scores 799.
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 Bay City, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Bay City, 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 Bay City
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Bay City runs 30% above the US rate, but car thefts run 45% below it: 1.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Aggravated assault stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Bay City has 4.5.
The safest and least safe parts of Bay City
Every part of Bay City where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Bay City run from A+ to B-; 27% 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 Bay City, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Bay City
CrimeGrade™ estimates Bay City has about 48 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% more than the US as a whole and close to Texas.
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 is the most common crime in Bay City, about 43% of everything reported, but assault 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 Bay City
Bay City has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Bay City, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 44% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (46%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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 Bay City compares with nearby cities
Bay City has the most crime of its 2 nearest cities.
Two things set Bay City apart: it has 15.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 10.3% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 87% 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.10.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 87% 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. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 59% 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 Bay City: F (0 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.2.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 80% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.29 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 73% 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 Bay City
Crime costs Bay City about $1,379 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 14% more 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 $34 million a year, or $1,578 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$51
Rape
$720,000
$34
Robbery
$300,000
$14
Assault
$4.7 million
$221
Burglary
$560,000
$27
Theft
$2.2 million
$105
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$23
Arson
$18,000
$1
Vandalism
$760,000
$36
Total
$11 million
$511
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 Bay City 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 Bay City, TX average a SchoolGrade of B: 50% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Bay City on SchoolGrade
