The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Independence, MO
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, with 122,600 residents in Jackson County, about 10 miles east of downtown Kansas City · Updated November 2026
Is Independence, MO safe?
Crime in Independence is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Independence. Violent crime grades B- and property crime C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Independence run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 535 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
20% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Independence as a whole, and 80% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Independence scores 535.
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 Independence, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Independence, 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 Independence
Reported rapes run high for a C-graded city. Independence has 0.90 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 0.30.
Vehicle theft at about triple the US rate. Independence has 8.3 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Independence
Safety changes a lot from one part of Independence to the next: 52% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 29% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Independence run from A+ to F; 8% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
52%19%29%
A or B 52%C 19%D or F 29%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Independence, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Independence?
Reported violent crime in Independence peaked in 2020 and has fallen 14% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 26% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.1 to 5.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 47 to 35 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 58% and property crime rose 51%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
IndependenceUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Independence. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Independence
Violent, US
Property, Independence
Property, US
2016
-15%
+4%
+15%
+15%
2017
-9%
+4%
+21%
+12%
2018
-27%
+0%
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+9%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
-1%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
-3%
+5%
-19%
-6%
2023
-41%
+2%
-51%
-7%
2024
-7%
-4%
-26%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Independence
CrimeGrade™ estimates Independence has about 63 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 68% more than the US as a whole and 49% more than Missouri.
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 Independence, 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 Independence
Independence has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Independence, 57% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 41% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (47%)
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 Independence compares with nearby cities
Independence has more crime than 3 of its 5 nearest cities. Lake Tapawingo and Blue Springs have the least crime nearby.
Parking lots, density and walkability in Independence
One thing sets Independence apart: it has 6% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet robbery and car theft run higher here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 73% 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.6% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 72% 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 59% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.7.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 67% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 59% of US city residents
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 Independence
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Independence about $1,861 a year per household, 54% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $96 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 $306 million a year, or $2,500 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$18 million
$150
Rape
$6.6 million
$54
Robbery
$2.8 million
$23
Assault
$22 million
$182
Burglary
$4.5 million
$37
Theft
$14 million
$116
Vehicle theft
$16 million
$127
Arson
$460,000
$4
Vandalism
$11 million
$90
Total
$96 million
$782
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 Independence 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 Independence, MO average a SchoolGrade of D+: 38% of students test proficient, against 30% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Independence on SchoolGrade
