The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Helena, MT
Helena is the capital of Montana, a city of 33,300 in Lewis and Clark County · Updated November 2026
Is Helena, MT safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Helena is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Helena sits near the middle: 49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Helena run from A+ to B, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 831 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Helena as a whole, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Helena scores 831.
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 Helena, MT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Helena, 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 Helena
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Helena runs 38% above the US rate, but car thefts run 40% below it: 1.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Reported rape stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.25 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Helena has 1.2.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Helena
Every part of Helena where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Helena run from A+ to B; 46% 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.
1Euclid Ave North, northwestThefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Helena.A+924
2Southeast & Central, southeastThefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Helena.A-842
3Euclid Ave South, westThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Helena.A-794
4North, northThefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Helena.B+763
5West End Helena, southBurglaries run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Helena.B+763
Neighborhood areas of Helena, 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.
Is crime going up in Helena?
Reported crime in Helena has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 13% and property crime down 40%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.0 to 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 44 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 24% and property crime fell 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
HelenaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Helena. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Helena
Violent, US
Property, Helena
Property, US
2016
+11%
+4%
-12%
+15%
2017
+10%
+4%
-4%
+12%
2018
+0%
+0%
+20%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+12%
+4%
-12%
-8%
2021
+19%
+6%
-23%
-10%
2022
+29%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
+14%
+2%
-30%
-7%
2024
-13%
-4%
-40%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Helena
CrimeGrade™ estimates Helena has about 51 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 38% more than the US as a whole and 46% more than Montana.
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 makes up about 44% of crime reported in Helena. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does 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.
Where and when crime happens in Helena
Helena has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Helena, 61% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 39% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (61%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (37%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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 Helena compares with nearby cities
Helena has the most crime of its 9 nearest cities.
Two things set Helena apart: it has 96 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 18.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery; here theft sits near the national middle.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.96 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 96% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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. 63% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (30 of 100)US: 21Higher 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.3.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 88% 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 Helena: F (3 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 79% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Helena 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 Helena
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Helena about $1,178 a year per household, 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 $49 million a year, or $1,477 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$740,000
$22
Rape
$2.3 million
$69
Robbery
$260,000
$8
Assault
$6.3 million
$189
Burglary
$710,000
$21
Theft
$3.8 million
$115
Vehicle theft
$820,000
$25
Arson
$68,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.0 million
$60
Total
$17 million
$511
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 Helena 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 Helena, MT average a SchoolGrade of B+: 44% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Helena on SchoolGrade
