The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Bristol City, VA
Bristol is an independent city of 16,800 residents, outside any county · Updated November 2026
Is Bristol City, VA safe?
Crime in Bristol City is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 67% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Bristol City. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Bristol City run from A to C, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 720 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
33% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Bristol City as a whole, and 67% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Bristol City scores 720.
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 Bristol City, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Bristol 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 Bristol City
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Bristol City runs 93% above the US rate, but car thefts run 32% below it: 1.8 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Reported rapes run high for a B-graded county. Bristol City has 0.95 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 0.41.
The safest and least safe parts of Bristol City
Low crime is the norm across Bristol City: 87% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Bristol City run from A to C; 28% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
87%13%
A or B 87%C 13%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the Bristol area has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Bristol City?
Reported crime in Bristol City has risen since 2019: violent crime is up 43% and property crime up 36%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.2 to 4.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 23 to 31 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 13% and property crime fell 21%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Bristol CityUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Bristol City. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Bristol City
Violent, US
Property, Bristol City
Property, US
2016
-32%
+4%
+11%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
+45%
+12%
2018
-10%
+0%
+34%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+23%
+4%
+10%
-8%
2021
+26%
+6%
-7%
-10%
2022
+18%
+5%
+17%
-6%
2023
+64%
+2%
+72%
-7%
2024
+43%
-4%
+36%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Bristol City
CrimeGrade™ estimates Bristol City has about 72 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 93% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for Virginia.
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 Bristol City, about 40% 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 Bristol City
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Bristol City, 2022 to 2024.
In Bristol City, 65% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 39% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (43%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (59%)
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 Bristol City compares with nearby counties
Bristol City has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Shops, empty homes and walkability in Bristol City
Two things set Bristol City apart: it has 22.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 15.6% 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.22.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.15.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 97% 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 60% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.65 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 92% 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 Bristol City: F (3 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 80% 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 Bristol City
Crime costs Bristol City about $1,460 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 21% 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 $29 million a year, or $1,721 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$60
Rape
$960,000
$57
Robbery
$170,000
$10
Assault
$4.6 million
$275
Burglary
$440,000
$26
Theft
$2.2 million
$131
Vehicle theft
$470,000
$28
Arson
$65,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.3 million
$79
Total
$11 million
$671
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 Bristol 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 Bristol City, VA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 79% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Bristol City on SchoolGrade
