The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lexington, NC
Lexington is a city of 71,600 in Davidson County, about 19 miles south of downtown Winston-Salem · Updated November 2026
Is Lexington, NC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Lexington is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Lexington sits near the middle: 59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lexington run from A+ to D+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 875 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lexington as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lexington scores 875.
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 Lexington, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lexington, 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 Lexington
Burglaries run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Lexington runs 29% below the US rate, but burglaries run 46% above it: 3.4 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Robberies and aggravated assaults both run low. In Lexington, each runs at about half the US rate: 0.29 robberies and 1.3 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 and 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Lexington
Most of Lexington grades well: 92% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 4% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lexington run from A+ to D+; 73% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
92%
A or B 92%C 4%D or F 4%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Lexington, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Lexington
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lexington has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 29% less than the US as a whole and 35% less than North Carolina.
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 Lexington, about 38% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Lexington
Lexington has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Lexington, 69% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 43% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (69%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (43%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
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 Lexington compares with nearby cities
Lexington has more crime than 4 of its 7 nearest cities. Flint Hill and Linwood have the least crime nearby.
Night lighting, density and walkability in Lexington
Two things set Lexington apart: it has 35% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 1% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low here.
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.35% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 92% 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.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 89% 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (6 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 89% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.30 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 72% 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.7.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 66% 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 Lexington: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 64% 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 Lexington
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Lexington about $875 a year per household, 27% 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 $92 million a year, or $1,284 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$8.1 million
$114
Rape
$1.1 million
$15
Robbery
$650,000
$9
Assault
$6.1 million
$85
Burglary
$2.2 million
$31
Theft
$3.7 million
$52
Vehicle theft
$1.7 million
$23
Arson
$290,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.3 million
$19
Total
$25 million
$352
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 Lexington 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 Lexington, NC average a SchoolGrade of C+: 54% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Lexington on SchoolGrade
