The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in East Ridge, TN
East Ridge is a city of 22,100 in Hamilton County, about 4 miles east of downtown Chattanooga · Updated November 2026
Is East Ridge, TN safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, East Ridge has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within East Ridge run from A- to C-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 716 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than East Ridge as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. East Ridge scores 716.
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 Ridge, TN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in East Ridge, 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 Ridge
Car thefts happen at homes more often than nationally. In East Ridge, 50% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of East Ridge
Most of East Ridge grades well: 92% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across East Ridge run from A- to C-; 12% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
92%
A or B 92%C 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within East Ridge, the east side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in East Ridge?
Reported violent crime in East Ridge peaked in 2021 and has fallen 34% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 42% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.4 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 34 to 20 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 25%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
East RidgeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves East Ridge. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, East Ridge
Violent, US
Property, East Ridge
Property, US
2016
+107%
+4%
+36%
+15%
2017
+60%
+4%
+25%
+12%
2018
+9%
+0%
+5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+26%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
+43%
+6%
-32%
-10%
2022
+34%
+5%
-36%
-6%
2023
+25%
+2%
-35%
-7%
2024
-6%
-4%
-42%
-15%
Crime rates and types in East Ridge
CrimeGrade™ estimates East Ridge has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% more than the US as a whole and close to Tennessee.
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.
Assault is the most common crime in East Ridge, 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 East Ridge
East Ridge has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In East Ridge, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 48% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (44%)
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 Ridge compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to East Ridge, 6 have less crime. Ringgold, GA and Lookout Mountain have the least.
Night lighting, shops and walkability in East Ridge
Two things set East Ridge apart: it has 3% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 28 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet car theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
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
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 85% 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. 81% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 52% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 81% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 75% 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.8.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 74% 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 Ridge
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs East Ridge about $1,081 a year per household, 10% 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 $32 million a year, or $1,471 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.5 million
$69
Rape
$820,000
$37
Robbery
$140,000
$6
Assault
$4.4 million
$198
Burglary
$300,000
$13
Theft
$1.9 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$540,000
$24
Arson
$35,000
$2
Vandalism
$700,000
$32
Total
$10 million
$465
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 Ridge 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 Ridge, TN average a SchoolGrade of F: 18% of students test proficient, against 18% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in East Ridge on SchoolGrade
