Capitol Hill is a neighborhood of 45,100 residents in Washington, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Capitol Hill in Washington safe?
Crime in Capitol Hill is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of F. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 94% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Capitol Hill. Violent crime grades D+ and property crime F. Washington as a whole grades F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Capitol Hill run from C+ to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
6% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Capitol Hill as a whole, and 94% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Capitol Hill scores 0.
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 Capitol Hill, Washington, DC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Capitol Hill in Washington, 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 Capitol Hill
Robberies and car thefts both run high. In Capitol Hill, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 5.1 robberies and 11.5 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.7 nationally.
How Capitol Hill compares within Washington
High crime is widespread across Capitol Hill: 88% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Capitol Hill run from C+ to F; every part of Capitol Hill has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
12%88%
C 12%D or F 88%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Capitol Hill has less crime than 20 of the 38 neighborhoods in Washington. It covers much of the Capitol Hill, South West, and Congress Heights areas.
Crime rates and types in Capitol Hill
CrimeGrade™ estimates Capitol Hill has about 107 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about triple the rate for the US as a whole and 18% more than Washington 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 Capitol Hill, about 34% 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.
How Capitol Hill compares with nearby neighborhoods
Capitol Hill has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Downtown and South West have less.
Transit, nightlife and walkability in Capitol Hill
Two things set Capitol Hill apart: it has 107 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 2.3 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, 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 Capitol Hill: C- (30 of 100).107 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.2.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 93% 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. 97% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (88 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 90% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.131 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 92% 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 Capitol Hill
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Capitol Hill about $2,718 a year per household, more than 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 $192 million a year, or $4,252 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 Capitol Hill 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 Capitol Hill, Washington, DC average a SchoolGrade of C+: 23% of students test proficient, against 29% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Capitol Hill on SchoolGrade
