Canton is a neighborhood of 5,040 residents in Salisbury, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Canton in Salisbury safe?
Crime in Canton is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 85% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Canton. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B against D+. Salisbury as a whole grades B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Canton run from B+ to D+, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 402 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Canton as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Canton scores 402.
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 Canton, Salisbury, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Canton in Salisbury, 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 Canton
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Canton runs 92% above the US rate, but car thefts run 25% below it: 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Aggravated assaults run high for a C-graded neighborhood. Canton has 9.3 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a C-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 4.1.
Crime rates and types in Canton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Canton has about 72 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 92% more than the US as a whole and 54% more than Salisbury 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 Canton, about 55% 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 Salisbury
The Salisbury Police Department polices Canton; these figures cover Salisbury as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Salisbury as a whole, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 43% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 Canton compares with nearby neighborhoods
Canton has the most crime of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
One thing sets Canton apart: it has 11.8% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism 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 Canton: F (4 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.11.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 86% 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+ (44 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 59% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.22% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 82% 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 Canton
Crime costs Canton about $2,441 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about double 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 $16 million a year, or $3,152 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 Canton 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 Canton, Salisbury, MD average a SchoolGrade of D: 25% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Canton on SchoolGrade
