The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Emporia, KS
Emporia is a city of 26,400 in Lyon County, about 50 miles southwest of downtown Topeka · Updated November 2026
Is Emporia, KS safe?
Yes, crime in Emporia is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Emporia sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 59% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Emporia run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 873 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Emporia as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Emporia scores 873.
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 Emporia, KS at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Emporia, 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 Emporia
Burglary stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Emporia has 4.1.
Vehicle theft is a strength. Emporia grades A- for property crime, but vehicle theft grades A+, better than in the neighborhoods where 76% of Americans live.
The safest and least safe parts of Emporia
Every part of Emporia where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Emporia run from A+ to B; 43% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Emporia, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Emporia?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Emporia is up 99%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.5 to 3.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 23 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 11%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
EmporiaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Emporia. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Emporia
Violent, US
Property, Emporia
Property, US
2016
-5%
+4%
+9%
+15%
2017
+27%
+4%
+33%
+12%
2018
-22%
+0%
-17%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+33%
+4%
+17%
-8%
2021
+27%
+6%
-14%
-10%
2022
+109%
+5%
+8%
-6%
2023
+162%
+2%
+19%
-7%
2024
+142%
-4%
+6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Emporia
CrimeGrade™ estimates Emporia has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% more than the US as a whole and 17% less than Kansas.
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 Emporia, about 39% 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 Emporia
Emporia has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Emporia, 73% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 43% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (73%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (59%)
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 Emporia compares with nearby cities
Emporia has the most crime of its 2 nearest cities.
Two things set Emporia apart: it has 4.8 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 15.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 90% 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (27 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 76% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.10.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 86% 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 Emporia: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.57 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 72% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Emporia 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 Emporia
Crime costs Emporia about $1,020 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 15% 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 $31 million a year, or $1,164 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$780,000
$30
Rape
$1.0 million
$40
Robbery
$160,000
$6
Assault
$3.5 million
$132
Burglary
$960,000
$36
Theft
$2.3 million
$86
Vehicle theft
$400,000
$15
Arson
$96,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.9 million
$71
Total
$11 million
$420
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 Emporia 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 Emporia, KS average a SchoolGrade of C-: 40% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Emporia on SchoolGrade
