The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lakewood, WA
Lakewood is a city of 67,100 in Pierce County, about 30 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
Is Lakewood, WA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-, Lakewood has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B- and property crime C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lakewood run from A to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 547 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
20% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lakewood as a whole, and 80% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lakewood scores 547.
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 Lakewood, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lakewood, 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 Lakewood
Robbery stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 0.63 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; Lakewood has 1.2.
Car thefts and acts of vandalism both run high. In Lakewood, each runs at more than double the US rate: 6.1 car thefts and 12.3 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 5.5 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Lakewood
Crime varies widely across Lakewood: 56% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 20% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lakewood run from A to F; 7% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
56%24%20%
A or B 56%C 24%D or F 20%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Woodbrook, southCar thefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Lakewood.B+706
2Holly Hedge, northCar thefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Lakewood.C+512
3South Tacoma & South End, northeastBurglaries run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Lakewood.C-363
Neighborhood areas of Lakewood, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Lakewood?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Lakewood is down 13%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 7.6 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 38 to 36 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 15% and property crime fell 27%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
LakewoodUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Lakewood. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lakewood
Violent, US
Property, Lakewood
Property, US
2016
-0%
+4%
+31%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
+23%
+12%
2018
-13%
+0%
+24%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-20%
+4%
+11%
-8%
2021
-2%
+6%
+25%
-10%
2022
+13%
+5%
+40%
-6%
2023
+2%
+2%
+31%
-7%
2024
-13%
-4%
-5%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lakewood
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lakewood has about 68 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 82% more than the US as a whole and 50% more than Washington.
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 Lakewood, about 36% 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 Lakewood
Lakewood has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Lakewood, 41% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 48% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (41%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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 Lakewood compares with nearby cities
Lakewood has more crime than 6 of its 9 nearest cities. Dupont and North Fort Lewis have the least crime nearby.
Transit, night lighting and walkability in Lakewood
One thing sets Lakewood apart: it has 14 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run high 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 Lakewood: D+ (22 of 100).14 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 88% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 67% 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+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 55% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 62% 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.6.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 61% 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 Lakewood
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Lakewood about $1,925 a year per household, 60% more 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 $150 million a year, or $2,238 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$7.7 million
$115
Rape
$2.4 million
$36
Robbery
$2.6 million
$39
Assault
$15 million
$222
Burglary
$3.0 million
$45
Theft
$8.5 million
$126
Vehicle theft
$6.3 million
$94
Arson
$310,000
$5
Vandalism
$5.8 million
$87
Total
$52 million
$768
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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood, WA average a SchoolGrade of D-: 34% of students test proficient, against 26% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Lakewood on SchoolGrade
