Crime in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY

Brighton Beach is a neighborhood of 24,300 residents in Brooklyn, about 8 miles south of downtown · Updated November 2026

Is Brighton Beach in Brooklyn safe?

Crime in Brighton Beach is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 84% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Brighton Beach. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against F. Brooklyn as a whole grades C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Brighton Beach run from A- to F, so check the map below.

C
Overall CrimeGrade™Safety score 440 of 1,000
Less safe than most US neighborhoods What this means

16% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Brighton Beach as a whole, and 84% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Brighton Beach scores 440.

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.

B+
Violent crimeSafety score 725 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoods
F
Property crimeSafety score 0 of 1,000More property crime than nearly all US neighborhoods

How it works


Crime map of Brighton Beach

Map of Brighton Beach shaded by overall CrimeGrade™, from green for the least crime to red for the most
Click the map to explore
F D C B A+
Highest crime Safest
Colorblind friendly off

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 Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY at ISP Reports.

Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, 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 Brighton Beach

Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Brighton Beach runs 33% above the US rate, but car thefts run at about half that rate: 1.3 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.

Burglary is a strength. Brighton Beach grades F for property crime, but burglary grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live.


How Brighton Beach compares within Brooklyn

Areas graded C are home to 52% of residents in Brighton Beach; 17% live in areas graded A or B and 31% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Brighton Beach run from A- to F; every part of Brighton Beach has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.

A or B 17%C 52%D or F 31%

Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.

Brighton Beach has less crime than 22 of the 39 neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It covers much of the Gravesend-Sheepshead Bay, Mapleton-Flatlands, and Sheepshead Bay areas.


Is crime going up in Brooklyn?

Reported crime in Brooklyn as a whole has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 15% and property crime up 58%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.7 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 15 to 23 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.

Violent crime, change since 2019

Property crime, change since 2019

BrooklynUnited States

Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Brooklyn. The charts follow crimes per resident.

Data table
YearViolent, BrooklynViolent, USProperty, BrooklynProperty, US
2016+1%+4%+1%+15%
2017-4%+4%+1%+12%
2018-4%+0%+4%+4%
2019+0%+0%+0%+0%
2020-4%+4%+1%-8%
2021+10%+6%+8%-10%
2022+28%+5%+44%-6%
2023+15%+2%+61%-7%
2024+15%-4%+58%-15%

Crime rates and types in Brighton Beach

CrimeGrade™ estimates Brighton Beach has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 33% more than the US as a whole and close to Brooklyn 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.

Assault is the most common crime in Brighton Beach, about 45% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.

CrimeCrimeGrade™Reported a yearPer 1,000 residentsUS per 1,000
Violent crime
MurderAunder 10.010.05
RapeA-50.220.38
RobberyB-251.00.62
AssaultC53722.112.3
Property crime
BurglaryA341.42.4
TheftC-40116.513.1
Vehicle theftF321.32.7
ArsonA10.060.12
VandalismB+1686.95.5

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 Brooklyn

The New York City Police Department polices Brighton Beach; these figures cover New York as a whole, 2022 to 2024.

In New York as a whole, 50% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 79% of them, against 18% nationally.

CrimeMost often atBusiest time
BurglaryHomes (50%)Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theftStreets and sidewalks (79%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from carsStreets and sidewalks (79%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
VandalismStreets and sidewalks (40%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
RobberyStreets and sidewalks (45%)Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assaultHomes (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 Brighton Beach compares with nearby neighborhoods

Brighton Beach has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Breezy Point and Manhattan Beach have the least crime nearby.

Nearby neighborhoods

PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Brighton BeachC440B+F24,300
Manhattan Beach 1 mileA847AA-3,220
Coney Island 1 mileD-143FC-31,800
Sheepshead Bay 1 mileB-574A-D53,600
Gravesend-Sheepshead Bay 1 mileB-571B+D+204,600
Show all 10
PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Breezy Point 3 milesA+927A+A+4,430
Bensonhurst 3 milesC407B+F111,100
Mapleton-Flatlands 3 milesC420B+F192,800
Bergen Beach 4 milesA-822AB+13,900
Dyker Heights 4 milesB665AC-36,800
Borough Park 4 milesC+483A-F157,400

Nearest first, with each place's distance from Brighton Beach. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).

Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Brighton Beach has more crime than 50% of them.

Neighborhoods of similar size and density

PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
Brighton BeachC440B+F24,300
Woodbridge, Irvine, CAA873A+A-24,400
West Park, Irvine, CAA-843AB+24,000
Downtown Stamford, Stamford, CTA-782AB-24,300
University, Riverside, CAB632B+C24,300
Show all 10
PlaceOverallViolentPropertyResidents
City Center East, Philadelphia, PAC+496A-F24,100
Upper Roseville, Newark, NJD181B-F24,100
Greater Landover, Landover, MDD-94FD+24,300
North Austin, Austin, TXF0D-F24,400
Capitol Hill, Denver, COF0D+F24,200
Petworth, Washington, DCF0FF24,300

Tree cover, walkability and parking lots in Brighton Beach

Two things set Brighton Beach apart: it has tree cover over 0% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally, and a Walk Grade of A+ (94 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.

Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.under 1% where people liveUS: 21%Lower than for 98% 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. 100% of residents here live in walkable areas.A+ (94 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 96% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.99% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 93% 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 Brighton Beach

Crime costs Brighton Beach about $986 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 18% 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 $29 million a year, or $1,193 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 Brighton Beach 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
  • Population and housing figures from the US Census Bureau
  • Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
  • The New York City Police Department publishes its own crime data

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.

More about CrimeGrade™ data


Schools in Brighton Beach

Schools in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY average a SchoolGrade of B: 61% of students test proficient, against 56% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Brighton Beach on SchoolGrade