The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lafayette, CO
Lafayette is a city of 32,200 in Boulder County, about 10 miles east of downtown Boulder · Updated November 2026
Is Lafayette, CO safe?
Yes, by national standards: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Lafayette is low. Most US neighborhoods have even less, though: 61% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lafayette run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 774 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
39% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lafayette as a whole, and 61% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lafayette scores 774.
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 Lafayette, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lafayette, 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 Lafayette
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; Lafayette has 4.8.
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Lafayette runs 38% above the US rate, but aggravated assaults run 29% below it: 1.9 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Lafayette
Every part of Lafayette where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Lafayette run from A+ to B-; 20% 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 Lafayette, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Lafayette?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Lafayette is up 13%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.4 to 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 26 to 27 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 37% and property crime fell 11%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
LafayetteUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Lafayette. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lafayette
Violent, US
Property, Lafayette
Property, US
2016
+37%
+4%
-9%
+15%
2017
+7%
+4%
+2%
+12%
2018
-9%
+0%
-1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-14%
+4%
-16%
-8%
2021
+21%
+6%
+4%
-10%
2022
-13%
+5%
+5%
-6%
2023
-18%
+2%
+17%
-7%
2024
+13%
-4%
+4%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lafayette
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lafayette has about 51 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 38% more than the US as a whole and close to Colorado.
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 37% of crime reported in Lafayette. 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 Lafayette
Lafayette has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Lafayette, 44% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 38% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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; they are over one in five for theft from cars.
How Lafayette compares with nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Lafayette, 6 have less crime. Gunbarrel and Erie have the least.
Two things set Lafayette apart: it has 2.3% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 7 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with few empty homes tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 93% 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 Lafayette: C- (29 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 77% 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. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (23 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 71% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.49 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 59% 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 Lafayette
Crime costs Lafayette about $1,168 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $32 million a year, or $992 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$670,000
$21
Rape
$1.1 million
$34
Robbery
$170,000
$5
Assault
$4.0 million
$126
Burglary
$1.4 million
$43
Theft
$3.1 million
$97
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$36
Arson
$110,000
$3
Vandalism
$2.9 million
$89
Total
$15 million
$455
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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette, CO average a SchoolGrade of A+: 56% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Lafayette on SchoolGrade
