The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Kingston, NY
Kingston is a city of 34,500 in Ulster County and the main city of the Kingston metro area, home to 182,600 · Updated November 2026
Is Kingston, NY safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Kingston is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Kingston sits near the middle: 53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Kingston run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 850 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Kingston as a whole, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Kingston scores 850.
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 Kingston, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Kingston, 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 Kingston
Robberies run high for an A-graded city. Kingston has 0.60 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13.
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B in Kingston, worse than in the neighborhoods where 78% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
The safest and least safe parts of Kingston
Every part of Kingston where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Kingston run from A+ to B-; 45% 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 Kingston, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Kingston?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Kingston is up 18% and property crime is down 25%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.0 to 3.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 16 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 46%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
KingstonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Kingston. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Kingston
Violent, US
Property, Kingston
Property, US
2016
+10%
+4%
-4%
+15%
2017
+6%
+4%
-10%
+12%
2018
+2%
+0%
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+19%
+4%
-13%
-8%
2021
+0%
+6%
-11%
-10%
2022
-13%
+5%
-4%
-6%
2023
-20%
+2%
-29%
-7%
2024
+18%
-4%
-25%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Kingston
CrimeGrade™ estimates Kingston has about 36 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to New York.
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 Kingston, about 44% 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.
How Kingston compares with nearby cities
Kingston has more crime than 5 of its 6 nearest cities. Rhinebeck and Ulster Park have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Kingston apart: it has 21.4 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and a Walk Grade of C- (29 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 63% of residents in Kingston live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.21.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 97% 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 Kingston: D- (8 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.C- (29 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 79% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.74% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 76% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 75% 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.8.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 75% 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 Kingston
Crime costs Kingston about $836 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 31% 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 $36 million a year, or $1,030 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$46
Rape
$1.3 million
$37
Robbery
$650,000
$19
Assault
$3.6 million
$103
Burglary
$410,000
$12
Theft
$2.8 million
$80
Vehicle theft
$440,000
$13
Arson
$73,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$48
Total
$12 million
$359
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 Kingston 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 Kingston, NY average a SchoolGrade of C+: 55% of students test proficient, against 60% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Kingston on SchoolGrade
