The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Jefferson City, MO
Jefferson City is the capital of Missouri, a city of 64,100 in Cole County · Updated November 2026
Is Jefferson City, MO safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Jefferson City has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Jefferson City run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 883 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
61% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Jefferson City as a whole, and 39% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Jefferson City scores 883.
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 Jefferson City, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Jefferson City, 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 Jefferson City
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; Jefferson City has 0.68.
Vehicle theft runs low. Jefferson City has 1.1 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.7.
The safest and least safe parts of Jefferson City
Nearly every part of Jefferson City where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Jefferson City run from A+ to C+; 76% 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.
Within Jefferson City, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Jefferson City?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Jefferson City is up 19% and property crime is down 22%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.8 to 3.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 20 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Jefferson CityUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Jefferson City. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Jefferson City
Violent, US
Property, Jefferson City
Property, US
2016
+44%
+4%
+18%
+15%
2017
+26%
+4%
+12%
+12%
2018
+28%
+0%
+16%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-2%
+4%
-25%
-8%
2021
+5%
+6%
-32%
-10%
2022
+28%
+5%
-33%
-6%
2023
+15%
+2%
-21%
-7%
2024
+19%
-4%
-22%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Jefferson City
CrimeGrade™ estimates Jefferson City has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% less than the US as a whole and 25% less 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 makes up about 42% of crime reported in Jefferson City. Simple 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 Jefferson City
Jefferson City has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Jefferson City, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 34% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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 Jefferson City compares with nearby cities
Jefferson City has the most crime of its 5 nearest cities.
Jobs, parking lots and walkability in Jefferson City
Two things set Jefferson City apart: it has 88 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 3.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.88 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 94% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 85% 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Jefferson City: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
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 78% 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.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 74% 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 Jefferson City
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Jefferson City about $794 a year per household, 34% 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 $58 million a year, or $903 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$29
Rape
$2.6 million
$41
Robbery
$400,000
$6
Aggravated assault
$3.0 million
$46
Simple assault
$4.5 million
$69
Burglary
$660,000
$10
Theft
$4.4 million
$68
Vehicle theft
$1.0 million
$16
Arson
$230,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.8 million
$28
Total
$20 million
$318
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 Jefferson City 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 Jefferson City, MO average a SchoolGrade of B: 48% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Jefferson City on SchoolGrade
