The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Johnston, IA
Johnston is a city of 24,500 in Polk County, about 8 miles northwest of downtown Des Moines · Updated November 2026
Is Johnston, IA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Johnston: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 72% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 916 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Johnston as a whole, and 28% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Johnston scores 916.
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 Johnston, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Johnston, 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 Johnston
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Johnston, 63% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Thefts are uncommon. Johnston has thefts at less than half the US rate: 5.5 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Johnston
Every part of Johnston where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Johnston run from A+ to A; every part of Johnston has 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 Johnston, the northwest side has the least crime and the southeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Johnston?
Reported property crime in Johnston has fallen 40% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 13 to 7.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
JohnstonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Johnston. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Johnston
Property, US
2016
-12%
+15%
2017
-10%
+12%
2018
-30%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-22%
-8%
2021
-33%
-10%
2022
-47%
-6%
2023
-43%
-7%
2024
-40%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Johnston
CrimeGrade™ estimates Johnston has about 21 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 44% less than the US as a whole and 27% less than Iowa.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in Johnston is assault, about 47% of the total. It also makes up 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 Johnston
Johnston has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Homes (73%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (63%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Johnston compares with nearby cities
Johnston has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Johnston apart: it has 4.7 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 5.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space 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.4.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 97% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 88% 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 79% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.61 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 78% 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.4.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 69% 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.9% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 63% 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 Johnston
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Johnston about $490 a year per household, 59% 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 $9.4 million a year, or $382 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$360,000
$15
Rape
$170,000
$7
Robbery
$44,000
$2
Assault
$2.0 million
$83
Burglary
$180,000
$7
Theft
$690,000
$28
Vehicle theft
$550,000
$22
Arson
$11,000
under $1
Vandalism
$510,000
$21
Total
$4.6 million
$186
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 Johnston 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 Johnston, IA average a SchoolGrade of B: 77% of students test proficient, against 64% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Johnston on SchoolGrade
