Hays is a city of 23,400 in Ellis County · Updated November 2026
Is Hays, KS safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Hays: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 71% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hays run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 911 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
71% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hays as a whole, and 29% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hays scores 911.
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, KS at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hays, 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
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Hays, 33% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Hays
Every part of Hays where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hays run from A+ to B+; 76% 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 Hays, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Hays
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hays has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% less than the US as a whole and 38% less than Kansas.
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, about 38% 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
Hays has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Hays, 71% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (71%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (67%)
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.
Two things set Hays apart: it has 4.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 17.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 94% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.17.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% 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. 64% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% of US city residents
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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: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.59 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 75% 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.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 61% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Hays on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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
Crime costs Hays about $773 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 36% 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 $20 million a year, or $846 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$320,000
$14
Rape
$730,000
$31
Robbery
$100,000
$4
Assault
$3.2 million
$137
Burglary
$350,000
$15
Theft
$1.4 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$300,000
$13
Arson
$24,000
$1
Vandalism
$860,000
$37
Total
$7.3 million
$311
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 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, KS average a SchoolGrade of A-: 50% of students test proficient, against 47% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Hays on SchoolGrade
