The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Clarke County, GA
Clarke County is the city of Athens: 129,600 residents · Updated November 2026
Is Clarke County, GA safe?
Crime in Clarke County is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Clarke County. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Clarke County run from A+ to D-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 765 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Clarke County as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Clarke County scores 765.
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 Clarke County, GA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Clarke 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 Clarke County
Car thefts are less common than in most B-graded counties. Clarke County has 1.7 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 3.5.
Thefts from cars happen at homes more often than nationally. In Clarke County, 51% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Clarke County
Most of Clarke County grades well: 93% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 3% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Clarke County run from A+ to D-; 27% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
93%
A or B 93%C 4%D or F 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Clarke County?
Reported crime in Clarke County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 19% and property crime down 30%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.1 to 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 35 to 25 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Clarke CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Clarke County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Clarke County
Violent, US
Property, Clarke County
Property, US
2016
-13%
+4%
+1%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
-4%
+12%
2018
-6%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
-11%
-8%
2021
+17%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
+21%
+5%
-17%
-6%
2023
-11%
+2%
-20%
-7%
2024
-19%
-4%
-30%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Clarke County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Clarke County has about 46 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 24% more than the US as a whole and 27% more than Georgia.
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 Clarke County, about 41% of everything reported, but assault 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 Clarke County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Clarke County, 2022 to 2024.
In Clarke County, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Homes (32%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 Clarke County compares with nearby counties
Clarke County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Clarke County looks like a typical county on the traits that tend to go with crime.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 87% of Americans
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 Clarke County: F (1 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 58% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% of Americans
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.76% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 66% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.5.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 62% 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 Clarke County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Clarke County about $1,215 a year per household, about the same as the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $63 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $189 million a year, or $1,456 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$9.1 million
$70
Rape
$3.4 million
$27
Robbery
$1.7 million
$13
Assault
$26 million
$202
Burglary
$2.9 million
$22
Theft
$13 million
$97
Vehicle theft
$3.4 million
$26
Arson
$390,000
$3
Vandalism
$3.2 million
$24
Total
$63 million
$484
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 Clarke 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 Clarke County, GA average a SchoolGrade of D: 28% of students test proficient, against 33% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Clarke County on SchoolGrade
