The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Benton County, WA
Benton County is home to 212,900 residents and includes Kennewick and Richland · Updated November 2026
Is Benton County, WA safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Benton County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Benton County sits near the middle: 46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Benton County run from A+ to D-, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 817 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Benton County as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Benton County scores 817.
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 Benton County, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Benton 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 Benton County
Vehicle theft stands out among A-graded counties. For the typical resident of an A-graded US county, the figure is 1.1 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Benton County has 4.3.
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Benton County runs 33% above the US rate, but aggravated assaults run 32% below it: 1.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Benton County
Low crime is the norm across Benton County: 87% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 5% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Benton County run from A+ to D-; 49% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
87%
A or B 87%C 8%D or F 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Benton 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 southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Benton County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Benton County is up 20%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.2 to 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 21 to 23 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 11% and property crime fell 10%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Benton CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Benton County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Benton County
Violent, US
Property, Benton County
Property, US
2016
-12%
+4%
+6%
+15%
2017
-10%
+4%
+3%
+12%
2018
-11%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+15%
+4%
+23%
-8%
2021
+27%
+6%
+28%
-10%
2022
+51%
+5%
+64%
-6%
2023
+36%
+2%
+19%
-7%
2024
+20%
-4%
+7%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Benton County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Benton County has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% more than the US as a whole and close to Washington.
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 Benton County, about 33% 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 Benton County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Benton County, 2022 to 2024.
In Benton County, 52% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 47% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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 Benton County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Benton County, 9 have less crime. Gilliam County, OR and Columbia County have the least.
Shops, empty homes and walkability in Benton County
Benton County looks like a typical county on the traits that tend to go with crime.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 66% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.5.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 61% of Americans
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. 85% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 60% of Americans
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.11% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 60% 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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 53% of Americans
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 Benton County: D+ (21 of 100).2 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 52% 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 Benton County
Crime costs Benton County about $1,350 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 12% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $103 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $243 million a year, or $1,144 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$9.6 million
$45
Rape
$6.3 million
$30
Robbery
$3.1 million
$14
Assault
$29 million
$137
Burglary
$5.3 million
$25
Theft
$18 million
$83
Vehicle theft
$14 million
$67
Arson
$360,000
$2
Vandalism
$17 million
$82
Total
$103 million
$484
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 Benton 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 Benton County, WA average a SchoolGrade of C-: 43% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Benton County on SchoolGrade
