The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Fernley, NV
Fernley is the sixth-largest city in Nevada, with 24,500 residents in Lyon County, about 30 miles east of downtown Reno · Updated November 2026
Is Fernley, NV safe?
Yes, crime in Fernley is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Fernley sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 44% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Fernley run from A to B, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 802 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
44% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Fernley as a whole, and 56% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Fernley scores 802.
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 Fernley, NV at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Fernley, 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 Fernley
Theft runs low. Fernley has 3.7 thefts a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 13.1.
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Fernley, 58% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Fernley
Every part of Fernley where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Fernley run from A to B; 27% 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 Fernley, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Fernley?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Fernley is down 48%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.6 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 12 to 6.4 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 21%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
FernleyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Fernley. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Fernley
Violent, US
Property, Fernley
Property, US
2016
-16%
+4%
+22%
+15%
2017
-24%
+4%
+20%
+12%
2018
-7%
+0%
+15%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-20%
+4%
-5%
-8%
2021
-21%
+6%
-2%
-10%
2022
-22%
+5%
-15%
-6%
2023
-12%
+2%
-33%
-7%
2024
-8%
-4%
-48%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Fernley
CrimeGrade™ estimates Fernley has about 28 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 24% less than the US as a whole and 42% less than Nevada.
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 Fernley, about 64% 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 Fernley
The Lyon County Sheriff's Office polices Fernley, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Fernley, 64% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 41% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (64%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (58%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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 Fernley compares with nearby cities
Fernley has more crime than 6 of its 7 nearest cities. Fallon and Wadsworth have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Fernley apart: it has 6.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 19 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with a lot of parking-lot space 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.6.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.19 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 88% 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. 92% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 80% 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.6.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 85% 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.3.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 85% 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 Fernley: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Fernley 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 Fernley
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Fernley about $1,073 a year per household, 11% 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 $30 million a year, or $1,227 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$43
Rape
$1.1 million
$47
Robbery
$110,000
$5
Assault
$4.8 million
$195
Burglary
$330,000
$14
Theft
$460,000
$19
Vehicle theft
$450,000
$19
Arson
$48,000
$2
Vandalism
$470,000
$19
Total
$8.9 million
$361
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 Fernley 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. Fernley 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 Fernley, NV average a SchoolGrade of D: 24% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Fernley on SchoolGrade
