The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Harrisburg, NC
Harrisburg is a town of 24,200 in Cabarrus County, about 13 miles northeast of downtown Charlotte · Updated November 2026
Is Harrisburg, NC safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Harrisburg: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 75% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A+ and property crime A. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Harrisburg run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 923 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
75% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Harrisburg as a whole, and 25% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Harrisburg scores 923.
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 Harrisburg, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Harrisburg, 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 Harrisburg
Car thefts and simple assaults both run low. In Harrisburg, each runs at less than half the US rate: 1.1 car thefts and 3.1 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 9.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Harrisburg, 62% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Harrisburg
Every part of Harrisburg where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Harrisburg run from A+ to C+; 99% 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 Harrisburg, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Harrisburg?
Reported property crime in Harrisburg has fallen 40% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 12 to 7.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
HarrisburgUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Harrisburg. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Harrisburg
Property, US
2016
+18%
+15%
2017
+3%
+12%
2018
-6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
-8%
2021
-24%
-10%
2022
-25%
-6%
2023
-35%
-7%
2024
-40%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Harrisburg
CrimeGrade™ estimates Harrisburg has about 15 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 61% less than the US as a whole and 64% less than North Carolina.
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 Harrisburg, about 46% 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 Harrisburg
The Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office polices Harrisburg, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Harrisburg, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (62%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Homes (56%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (69%)
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 Harrisburg compares with nearby cities
Harrisburg has less crime than 6 of its 9 nearest cities.
Two things set Harrisburg apart: it has a Walk Grade of F (5 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, and they run low here.
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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (5 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 90% 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.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 84% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 72% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 68% 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 Harrisburg: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 67% 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 Harrisburg
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Harrisburg about $443 a year per household, 63% 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 $10 million a year, or $418 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$700,000
$29
Rape
$96,000
$4
Robbery
$99,000
$4
Aggravated assault
$370,000
$15
Simple assault
$550,000
$23
Burglary
$270,000
$11
Theft
$830,000
$34
Vehicle theft
$420,000
$17
Arson
$14,000
$1
Vandalism
$290,000
$12
Total
$3.6 million
$150
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 Harrisburg 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. Harrisburg 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 Harrisburg, NC average a SchoolGrade of C+: 55% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Harrisburg on SchoolGrade
