Emerald Isle is a town of 3,660 in Carteret County, about 25 miles east of downtown Jacksonville · Updated November 2026
Is Emerald Isle, NC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Emerald Isle is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Emerald Isle sits near the middle: 56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 862 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Emerald Isle as a whole, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Emerald Isle scores 862.
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 Emerald Isle, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Emerald Isle, 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 Emerald Isle
Burglaries run high for an A-graded city. Emerald Isle has 4.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Crime rates and types in Emerald Isle
CrimeGrade™ estimates Emerald Isle has about 53 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 42% more than the US as a whole and 30% more than North Carolina.
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 makes up about 36% of crime reported in Emerald Isle. Assault is less common but 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.
The Emerald Isle Police Department's 2024 report to the FBI was missing some months of theft; CrimeGrade™ filled them in from the department's own monthly pattern.
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 Emerald Isle
Emerald Isle has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Emerald Isle, 89% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (89%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Emerald Isle compares with nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to Emerald Isle, 5 have less crime. Cape Carteret and Peletier have the least.
Shops, parking lots and walkability in Emerald Isle
Two things set Emerald Isle apart: it has 31.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 5.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.31.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% 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 (14 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 61% 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.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% 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.49% where people liveUS: 78%Lower 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 Emerald Isle: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower 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 Emerald Isle
Crime costs Emerald Isle about $1,008 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 16% 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 $4.1 million a year, or $1,112 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$250,000
$67
Rape
$75,000
$20
Robbery
$17,000
$5
Assault
$440,000
$120
Burglary
$140,000
$38
Theft
$360,000
$97
Vehicle theft
$61,000
$17
Arson
$6,900
$2
Vandalism
$370,000
$102
Total
$1.7 million
$469
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 Emerald Isle 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 Emerald Isle, NC average a SchoolGrade of A+: 77% of students test proficient, against 63% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Emerald Isle on SchoolGrade
