Ely is a city of 3,640 in Linn County, about 7 miles southeast of downtown Cedar Rapids · Updated November 2026
Is Ely, IA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Ely: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 88% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 957 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
88% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ely as a whole, and 12% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ely scores 957.
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 Ely, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ely, 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
Crime rates and types in Ely
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ely has about 9.9 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 73% less than the US as a whole and 65% less than Iowa.
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 Ely, about 41% 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 Ely
The Linn County Sheriff's Office polices Ely, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Ely, 52% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at other places: 40% of them, against 7% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Other places (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (42%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (69%)
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 Ely compares with nearby cities
Ely has less crime than 4 of its 7 nearest cities.
Two things set Ely apart: it has 1.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 3.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.1.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 99% 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.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% 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. 100% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (2 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 97% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 97% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.13 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% 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.52% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 86% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ely on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Ely
Crime costs Ely about $452 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 62% 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 $2.8 million a year, or $760 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$290,000
$79
Rape
$24,000
$7
Robbery
$2,700
$1
Assault
$150,000
$42
Burglary
$31,000
$8
Theft
$47,000
$13
Vehicle theft
$26,000
$7
Arson
$4,200
$1
Vandalism
$44,000
$12
Total
$620,000
$171
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 Ely 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. Ely is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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
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 Ely, IA average a SchoolGrade of B: 76% of students test proficient, against 63% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Ely on SchoolGrade
