Carter Lake is a city of 3,770 in Pottawattamie County, about 3 miles northeast of downtown Omaha · Updated November 2026
Is Carter Lake, IA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Carter Lake has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime C. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from B- to C+; see the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 588 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
22% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Carter Lake as a whole, and 78% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Carter Lake scores 588.
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 Carter Lake, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Carter Lake, 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 Carter Lake
Burglaries run high for a B-graded city. Carter Lake has 8.4 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.7.
Thefts run high. Carter Lake has thefts at more than double the US rate: 32.9 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Carter Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Carter Lake has about 88 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and about triple the rate for Iowa.
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 makes up about 37% of crime reported in Carter Lake. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Carter Lake
Carter Lake has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Carter Lake, 56% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at stores and businesses: 39% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (56%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Stores and businesses (37%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Stores and businesses (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (53%)
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 Carter Lake compares with nearby cities
Carter Lake has the most crime of its 7 nearest cities.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Carter Lake
Two things set Carter Lake apart: it has 6.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 2.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.6.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% 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.2.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 92% 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. 80% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 56% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 90% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.31 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 68% 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 Carter Lake
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Carter Lake about $2,031 a year per household, 68% 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 $5.8 million a year, or $1,551 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$110,000
$29
Rape
$69,000
$18
Robbery
$73,000
$19
Assault
$870,000
$230
Burglary
$280,000
$76
Theft
$640,000
$169
Vehicle theft
$310,000
$83
Arson
$3,700
$1
Vandalism
$530,000
$141
Total
$2.9 million
$766
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 Carter Lake 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 Carter Lake, IA average a SchoolGrade of F: 53% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Carter Lake on SchoolGrade
