Cajahs Mountain is a town of 3,130 in Caldwell County, about 14 miles northwest of downtown Hickory · Updated November 2026
Is Cajahs Mountain, NC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Cajahs Mountain is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Cajahs Mountain sits near the middle: 45% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 55% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to A-; see the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 814 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
45% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Cajahs Mountain as a whole, and 55% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Cajahs Mountain scores 814.
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 Cajahs Mountain, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Cajahs Mountain, 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 Cajahs Mountain
Burglary stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Cajahs Mountain has 4.2.
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Cajahs Mountain, 79% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Cajahs Mountain
CrimeGrade™ estimates Cajahs Mountain has about 36 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to North Carolina.
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 Cajahs Mountain, about 37% of everything reported.
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 Cajahs Mountain
The Caldwell County Sheriff's Office polices Cajahs Mountain, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Cajahs Mountain, 90% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 76% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (90%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (79%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (76%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (68%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars, vandalism, aggravated assault.
How Cajahs Mountain compares with nearby cities
Cajahs Mountain has more crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities. Drexel and Hudson have the least crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Cajahs Mountain. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Cajahs Mountain has more crime than 96% of them.
Two things set Cajahs Mountain apart: it has 15 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 35% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.15 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 93% 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. 100% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (5 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 91% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.35% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 92% 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.11.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 91% of US city residents
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 Cajahs Mountain: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Cajahs Mountain
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Cajahs Mountain about $929 a year per household, 23% 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 $4.6 million a year, or $1,467 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$380,000
$122
Rape
$56,000
$18
Robbery
$9,800
$3
Assault
$350,000
$113
Burglary
$120,000
$38
Theft
$210,000
$68
Vehicle theft
$96,000
$31
Arson
$8,600
$3
Vandalism
$110,000
$34
Total
$1.3 million
$429
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 Cajahs Mountain 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 Cajahs Mountain, NC average a SchoolGrade of D+: 48% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Cajahs Mountain on SchoolGrade
