Bitter Lake is a neighborhood of 9,720 residents in Seattle, about 8 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Bitter Lake in Seattle safe?
Bitter Lake is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 93% of Americans live. Violent crime grades C and property crime F. Seattle as a whole grades C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Bitter Lake run from C to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 41 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
7% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Bitter Lake as a whole, and 93% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Bitter Lake scores 41.
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 Bitter Lake, Seattle, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Bitter Lake in Seattle, 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 Bitter Lake
Car thefts and burglaries both run high. In Bitter Lake, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 13.8 car thefts and 10.1 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.4 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Bitter Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Bitter Lake has about 84 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and close to Seattle as a whole.
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 Bitter Lake, about 38% 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 Seattle
The Seattle Police Department polices Bitter Lake; these figures cover Seattle as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Seattle as a whole, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 33% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (33%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (35%)
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 Bitter Lake compares with nearby neighborhoods
Of the 10 neighborhoods closest to Bitter Lake, 9 have less crime. Meridian Park and Broadview have the least.
Transit, tree cover and walkability in Bitter Lake
Two things set Bitter Lake apart: it has 45 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 18 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run high here.
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 Bitter Lake: C (38 of 100).45 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 85% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.18% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 76% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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.C+ (46 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 61% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.18 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 73% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Bitter Lake
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Bitter Lake about $1,794 a year per household, 49% 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 $25 million a year, or $2,540 per resident.
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 Bitter Lake 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
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 Bitter Lake, Seattle, WA average a SchoolGrade of A: 61% of students test proficient, against 50% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Bitter Lake on SchoolGrade
