The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Colchester, VT
Colchester is a town of 14,500 in Chittenden County, about 4 miles north of downtown Burlington · Updated November 2026
Is Colchester, VT safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Colchester has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 889 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Colchester as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Colchester scores 889.
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 Colchester, VT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Colchester, 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 Colchester
Thefts run above the US rate. Colchester has less crime than the US as a whole, 19% below the US rate, but more thefts: 16.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Colchester
Every part of Colchester where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Colchester run from A+ to A-; 88% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Colchester, the northwest side has the least crime and the southeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Colchester?
Reported property crime in Colchester has risen 29% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 14 to 17 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
ColchesterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Colchester. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Colchester
Property, US
2016
+38%
+15%
2017
+27%
+12%
2018
-10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+8%
-8%
2021
+3%
-10%
2022
+40%
-6%
2023
+38%
-7%
2024
+28%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Colchester
CrimeGrade™ estimates Colchester has about 30 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 19% less than the US as a whole and close to Vermont.
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 Colchester, 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 Colchester
Colchester has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Colchester, 51% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 46% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (51%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (36%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (52%)
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 Colchester compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Colchester, 5 have less crime. South Hero and West Milton have the least.
Night lighting, walkability and parking lots in Colchester
Two things set Colchester apart: it has 15% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and a Walk Grade of F (5 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, yet theft and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
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.15% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 96% 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. 98% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (5 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 91% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.56 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 71% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 69% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 66% 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 Colchester
Crime costs Colchester about $655 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 46% 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 $10 million a year, or $712 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$330,000
$23
Rape
$260,000
$18
Robbery
$44,000
$3
Assault
$1.1 million
$76
Burglary
$120,000
$8
Theft
$1.2 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$73,000
$5
Arson
$16,000
$1
Vandalism
$650,000
$45
Total
$3.8 million
$264
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 Colchester 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 Colchester, VT average a SchoolGrade of A: 52% of students test proficient, against 47% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Colchester on SchoolGrade
