The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Garfield County, CO
Garfield County is home to 62,500 residents and includes Rifle and Glenwood Springs · Updated November 2026
Is Garfield County, CO safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Garfield County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 77% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A+ and property crime A. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Garfield County run from A+ to B, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 927 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Garfield County as a whole, and 23% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Garfield County scores 927.
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 Garfield County, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Garfield County, 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 Garfield County
Reported rapes run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Garfield County runs 20% below the US rate, but reported rapes run 92% above it: 0.74 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Car thefts are uncommon. Garfield County has car thefts at about half the US rate: 1.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Garfield County
Every part of Garfield County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Garfield County run from A+ to B; 77% 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.
Cities and towns in Garfield County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the northwest side has the least crime and the Glenwood Springs area the most.
Is crime going up in Garfield County?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Garfield County is down 24%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.1 to 2.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 13 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Garfield CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Garfield County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Garfield County
Violent, US
Property, Garfield County
Property, US
2016
-34%
+4%
+2%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
+15%
+12%
2018
-8%
+0%
+2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-10%
+4%
-5%
-8%
2021
-1%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
-4%
+5%
-21%
-6%
2023
-16%
+2%
-26%
-7%
2024
-8%
-4%
-24%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Garfield County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Garfield County has about 30 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% less than the US as a whole and 37% less than Colorado.
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 Garfield County, about 36% 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 Garfield County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Garfield County, 2022 to 2024.
In Garfield County, 45% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at stores and businesses: 28% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (45%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (29%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Stores and businesses (28%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
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; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars.
How Garfield County compares with nearby counties
Garfield County has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest counties. Rio Blanco County and Moffat County have the least crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Garfield County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Garfield County is safer than 81% of them.
Empty homes, shops and walkability in Garfield County
Two things set Garfield County apart: it has 2.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 51% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary and arson, and burglary runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.2.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 99% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 96% of Americans
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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 52% of Americans
Show all 6
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.51% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 82% of Americans
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 Garfield County: D- (10 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 71% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.38 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 67% of Americans
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 Garfield County
Crime costs Garfield County about $891 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 26% 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 $59 million a year, or $951 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$29
Rape
$2.8 million
$44
Robbery
$180,000
$3
Assault
$6.6 million
$105
Burglary
$840,000
$13
Theft
$3.5 million
$56
Vehicle theft
$1.4 million
$23
Arson
$190,000
$3
Vandalism
$2.7 million
$42
Total
$20 million
$319
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 Garfield County 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 Garfield County, CO average a SchoolGrade of D: 30% of students test proficient, against 30% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Garfield County on SchoolGrade
