The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in District Heights, MD
District Heights is a city of 25,800 in Prince George's County, about 8 miles east of downtown Washington · Updated November 2026
Is District Heights, MD safe?
Crime in District Heights is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of F. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 95% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than District Heights. Violent and property crime both grade F here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within District Heights run from C to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
5% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than District Heights as a whole, and 95% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. District Heights scores 0.
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 District Heights, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in District 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 District Heights
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most F-graded cities. District Heights has 3.5 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US city, the figure is 7.6.
Car thefts and robberies both run high. In District Heights, each runs at more than triple the US rate: 13.9 car thefts and 2.8 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 0.62 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of District Heights
High crime is widespread across District Heights: 92% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across District Heights run from C to F; every part of District Heights has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
92%
C 8%D or F 92%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within District Heights, the east side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Crime rates and types in District Heights
CrimeGrade™ estimates District Heights has about 54 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 45% more than the US as a whole and 30% more than Maryland.
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.
Vehicle theft is the most common crime in District Heights, about 26% of everything reported.
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 District Heights
District Heights has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 45% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (32%)
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 District Heights compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to District Heights, 6 have less crime. Morningside and Camp Springs have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from District 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, District Heights has more crime than 96% of them.
Jobs, night lighting and walkability in District Heights
Two things set District Heights apart: it has 7 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 0.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run higher here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.7 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 99% 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 92% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 88% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 88% 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.52% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 84% 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 District Heights
Crime costs District Heights about $2,491 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about double 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 $105 million a year, or $4,061 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$10 million
$395
Rape
$600,000
$23
Robbery
$2.2 million
$86
Assault
$3.4 million
$133
Burglary
$560,000
$22
Theft
$1.7 million
$66
Vehicle theft
$5.5 million
$214
Arson
$26,000
$1
Vandalism
$2.4 million
$92
Total
$27 million
$1,032
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 District 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 District Heights, MD average a SchoolGrade of F: 16% of students test proficient, against 15% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in District Heights on SchoolGrade
