The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Harrisburg, PA
The Harrisburg metro area, the 95th-largest in the US, is home to 604,200 residents; Harrisburg itself is the capital of Pennsylvania · Updated November 2026
Is Harrisburg, PA safe?
Yes, crime in the Harrisburg area is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, the Harrisburg area sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 59% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. The city of Harrisburg itself grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Harrisburg area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 874 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Harrisburg area as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Harrisburg area scores 874.
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, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Harrisburg area, 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 the Harrisburg area
One part of Harrisburg stands out for vehicle theft. Car thefts in Midtown Harrisburg & Camp Curtin, in west Harrisburg, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Burglaries and robberies both run low. In the Harrisburg area, each runs at less than half the US rate: 0.96 burglaries and 0.26 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 0.62 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in the Harrisburg area
Most of the Harrisburg area grades well: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 7% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Harrisburg area run from A+ to F; 77% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
91%
A or B 91%C 2%D or F 7%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Harrisburg
1Oakleigh, southeastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Harrisburg.A-821
2Fox Ridge, southwestCar thefts run at about triple the rate in the rest of Harrisburg.B627
4Allison Hill & Hall Manor, southCar thefts run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Harrisburg.D-138
5Summit Terrace, centralCar thefts run at about triple the rate in the rest of Harrisburg.F14
Neighborhood areas of the city of Harrisburg, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the Harrisburg metro area 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 area, the Schlusser area has the least crime and the downtown Harrisburg area the most.
Crime rates and types in the Harrisburg area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Harrisburg area has about 23 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 39% less than the US as a whole and 20% less than Pennsylvania.
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 the Harrisburg area, about 37% of everything reported, but murder costs more, because each one does far 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.
How the Harrisburg area compares with nearby metro areas
The Harrisburg area has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Poughkeepsie area and the Allentown area have less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Harrisburg area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Harrisburg area is safer than 83% of them.
Empty homes, transit and night lighting in the Harrisburg area
One thing sets the Harrisburg area apart: it has 4.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, and it runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.4.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 89% of Americans in metro areas
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Harrisburg area: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans in metro areas
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.74% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 81% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.19% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 54% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Harrisburg area
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs the Harrisburg area about $758 a year per household, 37% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $181 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $673 million a year, or $1,115 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$55 million
$90
Rape
$13 million
$22
Robbery
$4.8 million
$8
Assault
$53 million
$87
Burglary
$5.2 million
$9
Theft
$26 million
$43
Vehicle theft
$8.9 million
$15
Arson
$710,000
$1
Vandalism
$14 million
$24
Total
$181 million
$299
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 the Harrisburg area 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. These figures cover the whole Harrisburg metro area. 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 the Harrisburg area average a SchoolGrade of C: 46% of students test proficient, against 46% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in the Harrisburg area on SchoolGrade
