The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hays County, TX
Hays County is home to 268,600 residents and includes San Marcos and Kyle · Updated November 2026
Is Hays County, TX safe?
Yes, crime in Hays County is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Hays County sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hays County run from A+ to D+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 872 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
58% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hays County as a whole, and 42% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hays County scores 872.
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 Hays County, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hays 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 Hays County
Reported rape is the exception. Hays County grades A for violent crime, but reported rape grades B, worse than in the neighborhoods where 74% of Americans live.
Robbery runs low. Hays County has 0.19 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 0.62.
The safest and most dangerous places in Hays County
Nearly every part of Hays County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hays County run from A+ to D+; 63% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
99%
A or B 99%C 1%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Hays 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 Dripping Springs, Austin, and Driftwood areas have the least crime and the San Marcos area the most.
Is crime going up in Hays County?
Reported violent crime in Hays County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 33% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 14% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.0 to 2.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 14 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 17%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Hays CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Hays County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hays County
Violent, US
Property, Hays County
Property, US
2016
+17%
+4%
+35%
+15%
2017
+9%
+4%
+8%
+12%
2018
+18%
+0%
-4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+15%
+4%
-10%
-8%
2021
+46%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
+59%
+5%
+1%
-6%
2023
+27%
+2%
-11%
-7%
2024
+6%
-4%
-14%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hays County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hays County has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% less than the US as a whole and 38% less than Texas.
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 Hays County, about 37% 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 Hays County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Hays County, 2022 to 2024.
In Hays County, 52% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 48% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (51%)
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 Hays County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Hays County, 9 have less crime. Blanco County and Kendall County have the least.
Empty homes, transit and walkability in Hays County
Two things set Hays County apart: it has 3.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (10 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less burglary and arson; here burglary sits near the national middle.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.3.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 86% 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 Hays County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 81% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 83% of Americans
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.69% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 72% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 66% 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 Hays County
Crime costs Hays County about $839 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 30% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $73 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 $201 million a year, or $748 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.4 million
$20
Rape
$8.3 million
$31
Robbery
$1.6 million
$6
Assault
$28 million
$103
Burglary
$4.1 million
$15
Theft
$13 million
$48
Vehicle theft
$7.7 million
$29
Arson
$120,000
under $1
Vandalism
$5.0 million
$19
Total
$73 million
$271
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 Hays 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 Hays County, TX average a SchoolGrade of B+: 51% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Hays County on SchoolGrade
