Highland Creek is a neighborhood of 15,000 residents in Charlotte, about 12 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Highland Creek in Charlotte safe?
Yes, by national standards: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Highland Creek is low. Most US neighborhoods have even less, though: 60% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. Charlotte as a whole grades C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Highland Creek run from A+ to C, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 777 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
40% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Highland Creek as a whole, and 60% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Highland Creek scores 777.
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 Highland Creek, Charlotte, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Highland Creek in Charlotte, 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 Highland Creek
Car thefts run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Highland Creek runs 26% below the US rate, but car thefts run 53% above it: 4.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen at homes more often than nationally. In Charlotte as a whole, 54% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
How Highland Creek compares within Charlotte
Low crime is the norm across Highland Creek: 90% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Highland Creek run from A+ to C; 38% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
90%10%
A or B 90%C 10%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Highland Creek has less crime than 82 of the 105 neighborhoods in Charlotte. It covers much of the Prosperity Church Road, Back Creek Church Road, and Highland Creek areas.
Is crime going up in Charlotte?
Reported violent crime in Charlotte as a whole peaked in 2020 and has fallen 15% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 6% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 7.9 to 7.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 42 to 39 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
CharlotteUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Charlotte. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Charlotte
Violent, US
Property, Charlotte
Property, US
2016
-1%
+4%
+4%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
-3%
+12%
2018
-6%
+0%
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+16%
+4%
-15%
-8%
2021
+8%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
+1%
+5%
-14%
-6%
2023
-2%
+2%
-2%
-7%
2024
-1%
-4%
-6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Highland Creek
CrimeGrade™ estimates Highland Creek has about 27 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 26% less than the US as a whole and 59% less than Charlotte as a whole.
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 Highland Creek, about 36% of everything reported, but assault 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 Charlotte
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department polices Highland Creek; these figures cover Charlotte as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Charlotte as a whole, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (54%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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 Highland Creek compares with nearby neighborhoods
Highland Creek has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods; only Skybrook has less.
Two things set Highland Creek apart: it has a Walk Grade of D- (9 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 2.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, yet theft and assault run higher here than that would suggest.
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. 94% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 94% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.2.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 92% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 92% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.30% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 91% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Highland Creek
Crime costs Highland Creek about $780 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 35% 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 $12 million a year, or $823 per resident.
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 Highland Creek 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
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department publishes its own crime data
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 Highland Creek, Charlotte, NC average a SchoolGrade of B: 61% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Highland Creek on SchoolGrade
