The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Chemung County, NY
Chemung County is home to 82,100 residents and includes Elmira and Horseheads · Updated November 2026
Is Chemung County, NY safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Chemung County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Chemung County sits near the middle: 60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 40% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Chemung County run from A+ to D+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 877 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Chemung County as a whole, and 40% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Chemung County scores 877.
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 Chemung County, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Chemung County, 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 Chemung County
Vehicle theft runs low. Chemung County has 0.36 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 2.7.
The safest and most dangerous places in Chemung County
Low crime is the norm across Chemung County: 87% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 1% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Chemung County run from A+ to D+; 67% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
87%12%
A or B 87%C 12%D or F 1%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Chemung County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the northeast side has the least crime and the Elmira area the most.
Is crime going up in Chemung County?
Reported crime in Chemung County has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is up 1% and property crime down 7%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 2.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 17 to 16 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Chemung CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Chemung County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Chemung County
Violent, US
Property, Chemung County
Property, US
2016
-6%
+4%
+27%
+15%
2017
-21%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
-25%
+0%
-10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-3%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
-54%
+6%
-28%
-10%
2022
+9%
+5%
+10%
-6%
2023
-3%
+2%
-3%
-7%
2024
+1%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Chemung County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Chemung County has about 37 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to New York.
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 Chemung County, 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 Chemung County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Chemung County, 2022 to 2024.
In Chemung County, 65% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
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 Chemung County compares with nearby counties
Chemung County has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest counties. Schuyler County and Yates County have the least crime nearby.
Transit, empty homes and walkability in Chemung County
One thing sets Chemung County apart: it has 7% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery; here robbery sits near the national middle.
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 Chemung County: F (2 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.9.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 84% 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. 75% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 60% of Americans
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.56% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 80% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 70% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 65% 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 Chemung County
Crime costs Chemung County about $799 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 34% 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 $72 million a year, or $875 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.2 million
$39
Rape
$1.0 million
$13
Robbery
$830,000
$10
Assault
$12 million
$146
Burglary
$1.3 million
$16
Theft
$6.2 million
$75
Vehicle theft
$460,000
$6
Arson
$200,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.9 million
$35
Total
$28 million
$343
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 Chemung County 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 Chemung County, NY average a SchoolGrade of C: 52% of students test proficient, against 58% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Chemung County on SchoolGrade
