The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Cottonwood Heights, UT
Cottonwood Heights is a city of 32,700 in Salt Lake County, about 10 miles south of downtown Salt Lake City · Updated November 2026
Is Cottonwood Heights, UT safe?
Yes, crime in Cottonwood Heights is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Cottonwood Heights sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Cottonwood Heights run from A to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 871 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
58% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Cottonwood Heights as a whole, and 42% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Cottonwood Heights scores 871.
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 Cottonwood Heights, UT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Cottonwood Heights, 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 Cottonwood Heights
Car thefts happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Cottonwood Heights, 51% of reported car thefts happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
Burglaries are uncommon. Cottonwood Heights has burglaries at about half the US rate: 1.2 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Cottonwood Heights
Every part of Cottonwood Heights where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Cottonwood Heights run from A to B; 73% 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 Cottonwood Heights, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Cottonwood Heights?
Reported property crime in Cottonwood Heights has fallen 34% 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 24 to 16 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 10%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Cottonwood HeightsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Cottonwood Heights. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Cottonwood Heights
Property, US
2016
+13%
+15%
2017
+24%
+12%
2018
-3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+15%
-8%
2021
-4%
-10%
2022
-20%
-6%
2023
-26%
-7%
2024
-34%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Cottonwood Heights
CrimeGrade™ estimates Cottonwood Heights has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% less than the US as a whole and 24% less than Utah.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in Cottonwood Heights is theft, about 54% of the total. It also makes up 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 Cottonwood Heights
Cottonwood Heights has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Cottonwood Heights, 63% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 52% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (63%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (60%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (52%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Cottonwood Heights compares with nearby cities
Cottonwood Heights has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest cities; only South Jordan has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Cottonwood Heights. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Cottonwood Heights is safer than 64% of them.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Cottonwood Heights
Two things set Cottonwood Heights apart: it has 3.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 64 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet vandalism runs 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.3.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 86% of US city residents
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 82% 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. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 55% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.64 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 78% 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 Cottonwood Heights
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Cottonwood Heights about $553 a year per household, 54% 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 $16 million a year, or $504 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$880,000
$27
Rape
$420,000
$13
Robbery
$260,000
$8
Assault
$1.2 million
$37
Burglary
$350,000
$11
Theft
$2.2 million
$68
Vehicle theft
$600,000
$18
Arson
$35,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$33
Total
$7.0 million
$215
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 Cottonwood Heights 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 Cottonwood Heights, UT average a SchoolGrade of A: 56% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Cottonwood Heights on SchoolGrade
