Columbia is a neighborhood of 4,270 residents in Bellingham, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Columbia in Bellingham safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Columbia has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C+. Bellingham as a whole grades A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from B+ to B; see the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 715 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Columbia as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Columbia scores 715.
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 Columbia, Bellingham, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Columbia in Bellingham, 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 Columbia
Burglary at about double the US rate. Columbia has 4.8 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Columbia
CrimeGrade™ estimates Columbia has about 60 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 62% more than the US as a whole and close to Bellingham 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 Columbia, about 42% 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 Bellingham
The Bellingham Police Department polices Columbia; these figures cover Bellingham as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Bellingham as a whole, 35% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 37% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (42%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Stores and businesses (25%)
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 Columbia compares with nearby neighborhoods
Columbia has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Mount Baker and Birchwood have less.
Two things set Columbia apart: it has 1.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 10% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.1.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Columbia: C (32 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% 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.B- (50 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 90% 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 Columbia
Crime costs Columbia about $1,279 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 6% 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 $4.8 million a year, or $1,123 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 Columbia 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. Columbia is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Columbia, Bellingham, WA average a SchoolGrade of B: 50% of students test proficient, against 41% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Columbia on SchoolGrade
