Kansas is home to 2.95 million residents; Topeka is its capital and Wichita its largest city · Updated November 2026
Is Kansas safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Kansas has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 68% of Americans live. It ranks 15th safest of the 50 states and Washington, DC. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Kansas run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe counties and cities below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 903 of 1,00015th safest of the 50 states and DCi What this means
68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Kansas as a whole, and 32% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Kansas scores 903.
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 Kansas at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Kansas, 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 Kansas
Car thefts happen at homes more often than nationally. In Kansas, 54% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
Acts of vandalism and arsons both run high. In Kansas, each runs at about double the US rate: 10.1 acts of vandalism and 0.24 arsons a year per 1,000 residents, against 5.5 and 0.12 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous counties and cities in Kansas
Most of Kansas grades well: 84% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 10% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Kansas run from A+ to F; 59% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
84%10%
A or B 84%C 6%D or F 10%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
All 105 counties, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Cities of 10,000 or more residents, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Crime rates and types in Kansas
CrimeGrade™ estimates Kansas has about 52 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 39% more than the US 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 Kansas, about 34% 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 Kansas
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Kansas, 2022 to 2024.
In Kansas, 64% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 47% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (64%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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 Kansas compares with nearby states
Kansas has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest states.
One thing sets Kansas apart: it has 7% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, and car theft runs low here.
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 Kansas: F (4 of 100).1 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 91% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 91% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.8.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 79% of Americans
Show all 4
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.79% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 51% of Americans
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Kansas on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more. Its Walk Grade for Kansas is D (17 of 100).
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 Kansas
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Kansas about $1,461 a year per household, 21% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $1.68 billion 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 $5.12 billion a year, or $1,737 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$230 million
$78
Rape
$87 million
$29
Robbery
$35 million
$12
Assault
$634 million
$215
Burglary
$80 million
$27
Theft
$263 million
$89
Vehicle theft
$125 million
$42
Arson
$17 million
$6
Vandalism
$211 million
$72
Total
$1.68 billion
$571
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 Kansas 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. Kansas is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Kansas average a SchoolGrade of C+: 42% of students test proficient, against 35% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Kansas on SchoolGrade
