The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Las Vegas, NM
Las Vegas is a city of 15,600 in San Miguel County, about 40 miles east of downtown Santa Fe · Updated November 2026
Is Las Vegas, NM safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Las Vegas is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Las Vegas sits near the middle: 41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Las Vegas run from A+ to C, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 784 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Las Vegas as a whole, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Las Vegas scores 784.
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 Las Vegas, NM at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Las Vegas, 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 Las Vegas
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Las Vegas has 9.6 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
Car thefts and acts of vandalism both run high. In Las Vegas, each runs at about double the US rate: 5.4 car thefts and 11.3 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 5.5 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Las Vegas
Most of Las Vegas grades well: 95% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Las Vegas run from A+ to C; 8% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
95%
A or B 95%C 5%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Las Vegas, the southwest side has the least crime and the north side the most.
Crime rates and types in Las Vegas
CrimeGrade™ estimates Las Vegas has about 60 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 60% more than the US as a whole and close to New Mexico.
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 Las Vegas is assault, about 45% 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 Las Vegas
Las Vegas has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Las Vegas, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often in parking lots and garages: 52% of them, against 23% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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 Las Vegas compares with nearby cities
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Las Vegas has more crime than 92% of them.
Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Empty homes, transit and walkability in Las Vegas
One thing sets Las Vegas apart: it has 13.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and vandalism runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.13.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 94% 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 Las Vegas: F (1 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. 74% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 54% 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.77% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 74% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 72% 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.9% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 62% 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 Las Vegas
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Las Vegas about $2,206 a year per household, 83% 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 $63 million a year, or $4,047 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.2 million
$270
Rape
$650,000
$42
Robbery
$160,000
$10
Assault
$6.2 million
$398
Burglary
$420,000
$27
Theft
$950,000
$61
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$83
Arson
$91,000
$6
Vandalism
$1.2 million
$80
Total
$15 million
$977
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 Las Vegas 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 Las Vegas, NM average a SchoolGrade of D+: 28% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Las Vegas on SchoolGrade
