The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Kill Devil Hills, NC
Kill Devil Hills is a town of 12,400 in Dare County, about 35 miles southeast of Elizabeth City · Updated November 2026
Is Kill Devil Hills, NC safe?
Yes, crime in Kill Devil Hills is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Kill Devil Hills sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 51% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 841 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
51% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Kill Devil Hills as a whole, and 49% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Kill Devil Hills scores 841.
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 Kill Devil Hills, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Kill Devil Hills, 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 Kill Devil Hills
Burglary stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Kill Devil Hills has 2.4.
The safest and least safe parts of Kill Devil Hills
Every part of Kill Devil Hills where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Kill Devil Hills run from A to B+; 74% of residents live in areas with 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 Kill Devil Hills, the southwest side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Kill Devil Hills?
Reported property crime in Kill Devil Hills has fallen 61% 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 38 to 15 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 25%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Kill Devil HillsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Kill Devil Hills. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Kill Devil Hills
Property, US
2016
+27%
+15%
2017
+62%
+12%
2018
+26%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-27%
-8%
2021
-33%
-10%
2022
-28%
-6%
2023
-47%
-7%
2024
-61%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Kill Devil Hills
CrimeGrade™ estimates Kill Devil Hills has about 30 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% less than the US as a whole and 27% less than North Carolina.
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 Kill Devil Hills is assault, about 41% 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 Kill Devil Hills
Kill Devil Hills has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Kill Devil Hills, 74% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 83% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (74%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (83%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Homes (34%)
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 Kill Devil Hills compares with nearby cities
Kill Devil Hills has the most crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Kill Devil Hills. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Kill Devil Hills has more crime than 86% of them.
Empty homes, shops and walkability in Kill Devil Hills
Two things set Kill Devil Hills apart: it has 19.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 19.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.19.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.19.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 96% 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. 86% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 59% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 90% 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.41% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 90% of US city residents
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 Kill Devil Hills: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Kill Devil Hills
Crime costs Kill Devil Hills about $744 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 38% 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 $11 million a year, or $930 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$740,000
$60
Rape
$150,000
$12
Robbery
$70,000
$6
Assault
$1.5 million
$120
Burglary
$270,000
$22
Theft
$520,000
$42
Vehicle theft
$70,000
$6
Arson
$20,000
$2
Vandalism
$530,000
$43
Total
$3.9 million
$312
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 Kill Devil Hills 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 Kill Devil Hills, NC average a SchoolGrade of A: 68% of students test proficient, against 57% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Kill Devil Hills on SchoolGrade
