Downtown Chapel Hill is a neighborhood of 3,790 residents in Chapel Hill, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Downtown Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Downtown Chapel Hill has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C. Chapel Hill as a whole grades A.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 675 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Downtown Chapel Hill as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Downtown Chapel Hill scores 675.
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 Downtown Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Downtown Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, 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 Downtown Chapel Hill
Thefts run high. Downtown Chapel Hill has thefts at more than triple the US rate: 56.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Chapel Hill as a whole, 58% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Downtown Chapel Hill
CrimeGrade™ estimates Downtown Chapel Hill has about 95 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and about triple the rate for Chapel Hill 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Downtown Chapel Hill is theft, about 59% 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 Chapel Hill
The Chapel Hill Police Department polices Downtown Chapel Hill; these figures cover Chapel Hill as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Chapel Hill as a whole, 76% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 62% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (76%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (40%)
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 Downtown Chapel Hill compares with nearby neighborhoods
Downtown Chapel Hill has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Downtown Chapel Hill. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with neighborhoods of similar size and density, Downtown Chapel Hill is safer than 75% of them.
Nightlife, shops and walkability in Downtown Chapel Hill
Two things set Downtown Chapel Hill apart: it has 9.5 bars and nightlife spots for every 1,000 residents, against 0.6 nationally, and 50.4 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more assault and robbery, and assault runs high here.
Bars and nightlifeBars, lounges, clubs and casinos. Places with more bars tend to report more assault and robbery.9.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 0.6Higher than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.50.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 98% 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. 92% of residents here live in walkable areas.A (85 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
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 Downtown Chapel Hill: C+ (42 of 100).97 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 96% 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 Downtown Chapel Hill
Crime costs Downtown Chapel Hill about $3,648 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about triple 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 $6.0 million a year, or $1,594 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 Downtown Chapel Hill 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. Downtown Chapel Hill 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
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 Downtown Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC average a SchoolGrade of A+: 70% of students test proficient, against 62% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Downtown Chapel Hill on SchoolGrade
