The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lanham, MD
Lanham is an unincorporated community of 19,800 in Prince George's County, about 11 miles northeast of downtown Washington · Updated November 2026
Is Lanham, MD safe?
Crime in Lanham is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Lanham. Violent crime grades B and property crime C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lanham run from A- to D, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 548 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
20% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lanham as a whole, and 80% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lanham scores 548.
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 Lanham, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lanham, 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 Lanham
Car thefts run high for a B-graded city. Lanham has 10.4 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.9.
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Lanham runs 30% above the US rate, but aggravated assaults run 34% below it: 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Lanham
Most of Lanham grades well: 53% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 12% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lanham run from A- to D; every part of Lanham has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
53%35%12%
A or B 53%C 35%D or F 12%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Lanham, the east side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Lanham
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lanham has about 48 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% more than the US as a whole and 17% more than Maryland.
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 Lanham, about 30% of everything reported.
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 Lanham compares with nearby cities
Lanham has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities.
Two things set Lanham apart: it has 88 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 10 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and robbery runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.88 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 94% 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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% 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. 89% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 59% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Lanham: D (14 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 84% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.23% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 60% 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.6.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 57% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Lanham on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Lanham
Crime costs Lanham about $2,342 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 94% 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 $42 million a year, or $2,129 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.5 million
$178
Rape
$360,000
$18
Robbery
$1.2 million
$60
Aggravated assault
$970,000
$49
Simple assault
$490,000
$25
Burglary
$350,000
$18
Theft
$1.5 million
$75
Vehicle theft
$3.1 million
$159
Arson
$6,100
under $1
Vandalism
$2.0 million
$99
Total
$13 million
$682
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 Lanham 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 Lanham, MD average a SchoolGrade of D-: 23% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Lanham on SchoolGrade
