The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Glendale, WI
Glendale is a city of 12,600 in Milwaukee County, about 6 miles north of downtown Milwaukee · Updated November 2026
Is Glendale, WI safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Glendale is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Glendale sits near the middle: 46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Glendale run from A to F, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 818 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Glendale as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Glendale scores 818.
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 Glendale, WI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Glendale, 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 Glendale
Thefts and robberies both run high. In Glendale, each runs at more than double the US rate: 34.8 thefts and 1.6 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 and 0.62 nationally.
Car thefts happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Glendale, 42% of reported car thefts happen at stores and businesses, against 10% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Glendale
Low crime is the norm across Glendale: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Glendale run from A to F; 63% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
A or B 98%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Glendale, the north side has the least crime and the southeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Glendale?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Glendale is down 28%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 2.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 52 to 37 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
GlendaleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Glendale. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Glendale
Violent, US
Property, Glendale
Property, US
2016
-23%
+4%
+37%
+15%
2017
-37%
+4%
+17%
+12%
2018
+60%
+0%
+46%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-31%
+4%
-24%
-8%
2021
-4%
+6%
-11%
-10%
2022
+8%
+5%
-6%
-6%
2023
+4%
+2%
-20%
-7%
2024
+2%
-4%
-28%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Glendale
CrimeGrade™ estimates Glendale has about 58 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 57% more than the US as a whole and more than double the rate for Wisconsin.
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 Glendale is theft, about 60% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Glendale
Glendale has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Glendale, 30% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 34% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (39%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Stores and businesses (42%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Stores and businesses (33%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (78%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Glendale compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Glendale, 7 have less crime. Mequon and River Hills have the least.
Two things set Glendale apart: it has 125 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 4.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.125 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% 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. 83% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 51% 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.18.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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 Glendale: C- (30 of 100).16 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 90% 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 Glendale
Crime costs Glendale about $1,213 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $16 million a year, or $1,246 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$790,000
$62
Rape
$190,000
$15
Robbery
$640,000
$50
Assault
$1.1 million
$90
Burglary
$240,000
$19
Theft
$2.3 million
$179
Vehicle theft
$820,000
$65
Arson
$15,000
$1
Vandalism
$680,000
$54
Total
$6.8 million
$535
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 Glendale 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 Glendale, WI average a SchoolGrade of C+: 44% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Glendale on SchoolGrade
