Essex is an unincorporated community of 43,100 in Baltimore County, about 9 miles east of downtown Baltimore · Updated November 2026
Is Essex, MD safe?
Crime in Essex is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 85% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Essex. Violent crime grades C+ and property crime D+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Essex run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
C
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 422 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
15% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Essex as a whole, and 85% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Essex scores 422.
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 Essex, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Essex, 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 Essex
Car thefts and simple assaults both run high. In Essex, each runs at more than double the US rate: 6.3 car thefts and 26.6 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 9.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Essex
Crime varies widely across Essex: 33% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 48% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Essex run from A+ to F; 9% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
33%19%48%
A or B 33%C 19%D or F 48%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Essex, the southeast side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Crime rates and types in Essex
CrimeGrade™ estimates Essex has about 80 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 94% more than Maryland.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in Essex is assault, about 39% of the total. It also makes up 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.
How Essex compares with nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Essex, 7 have less crime. Bowleys Quarters and Edgemere have the least.
Two things set Essex apart: it has 18 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 10 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with few jobs 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.18 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 89% 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 Essex: D+ (23 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 57% 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.6.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 84% 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.42% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 76% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Essex 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 Essex
Crime costs Essex about $2,046 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 70% more 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 $91 million a year, or $2,101 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.0 million
$93
Rape
$950,000
$22
Robbery
$1.5 million
$35
Assault
$14 million
$322
Burglary
$920,000
$21
Theft
$5.3 million
$123
Vehicle theft
$4.2 million
$97
Arson
$360,000
$8
Vandalism
$4.4 million
$103
Total
$36 million
$824
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 Essex 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 Essex, MD average a SchoolGrade of D-: 24% of students test proficient, against 22% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Essex on SchoolGrade
