The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in East Hill-Meridian, WA
East Hill-Meridian is a city of 34,300 in King County, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
Is East Hill-Meridian, WA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, East Hill-Meridian has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within East Hill-Meridian run from A to F, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 645 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than East Hill-Meridian as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. East Hill-Meridian scores 645.
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 East Hill-Meridian, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in East Hill-Meridian, 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 East Hill-Meridian
Vehicle theft stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.9 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; East Hill-Meridian has 5.9.
Burglaries happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In East Hill-Meridian, 59% of reported burglaries happen at stores and businesses, against 28% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of East Hill-Meridian
In East Hill-Meridian, 65% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 18% in areas graded C and 17% in areas graded D or F. Grades across East Hill-Meridian run from A to F; 3% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
65%18%17%
A or B 65%C 18%D or F 17%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within East Hill-Meridian, the east side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in East Hill-Meridian?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in East Hill-Meridian is up 25%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.8 to 4.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 40 to 37 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 14% and property crime fell 27%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
East Hill-MeridianUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves East Hill-Meridian. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, East Hill-Meridian
Violent, US
Property, East Hill-Meridian
Property, US
2016
-23%
+4%
+46%
+15%
2017
-5%
+4%
+33%
+12%
2018
-7%
+0%
+15%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-9%
+4%
-1%
-8%
2021
+4%
+6%
+20%
-10%
2022
+20%
+5%
+37%
-6%
2023
+45%
+2%
+26%
-7%
2024
+26%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in East Hill-Meridian
CrimeGrade™ estimates East Hill-Meridian has about 40 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 7% more than the US as a whole and close to Washington.
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 East Hill-Meridian, about 30% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 East Hill-Meridian
The Kent Police Department polices East Hill-Meridian; these figures cover Kent as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 43% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (59%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (47%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (43%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (35%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (41%)
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 East Hill-Meridian compares with nearby cities
East Hill-Meridian has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from East Hill-Meridian. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, East Hill-Meridian has more crime than 89% of them.
Two things set East Hill-Meridian apart: it has 7 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 3.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 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
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.3.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 98% 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. 97% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 78% 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.0.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 87% of US city residents
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 East Hill-Meridian: D (16 of 100).11 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 86% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 83% 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 East Hill-Meridian
Crime costs East Hill-Meridian about $1,201 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $35 million a year, or $1,026 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.5 million
$44
Rape
$810,000
$24
Robbery
$520,000
$15
Assault
$3.5 million
$103
Burglary
$1.3 million
$37
Theft
$2.1 million
$61
Vehicle theft
$3.1 million
$90
Arson
$100,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.8 million
$53
Total
$15 million
$429
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 East Hill-Meridian 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 East Hill-Meridian, WA average a SchoolGrade of C+: 47% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in East Hill-Meridian on SchoolGrade
