The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Little Elm, TX
Little Elm is a city of 70,400 in Denton County, about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas · Updated November 2026
Is Little Elm, TX safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Little Elm has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A+ against A. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 891 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Little Elm as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Little Elm scores 891.
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 Little Elm, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Little Elm, 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 Little Elm
Car thefts and burglaries both run low. In Little Elm, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.49 car thefts and 0.45 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.4 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Little Elm
Every part of Little Elm where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Little Elm run from A+ to A-; 95% 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 Little Elm, the west side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Little Elm?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Little Elm is up 35%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.0 to 1.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 4.1 to 4.4 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 37% and property crime fell 20%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Little ElmUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Little Elm. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Little Elm
Violent, US
Property, Little Elm
Property, US
2016
-5%
+4%
+131%
+15%
2017
-23%
+4%
+45%
+12%
2018
+74%
+0%
+38%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+84%
+4%
+17%
-8%
2021
+71%
+6%
-4%
-10%
2022
+77%
+5%
+20%
-6%
2023
+114%
+2%
+35%
-7%
2024
+35%
-4%
+8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Little Elm
CrimeGrade™ estimates Little Elm has about 10 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 72% less than the US as a whole and 75% less than Texas.
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 Little Elm is assault, about 52% 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 Little Elm
Little Elm has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Little Elm, 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%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (69%)
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 Little Elm compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Little Elm, 9 have less crime. Shady Shores and Lakewood Village have the least.
Two things set Little Elm apart: it has 11 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 4.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, and theft runs low here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.11 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 96% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.4.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 93% 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. 95% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 77% 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 Little Elm: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.3.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 76% 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.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 70% 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 Little Elm
Crime costs Little Elm about $445 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 63% 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 $29 million a year, or $416 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.3 million
$19
Rape
$1.2 million
$17
Robbery
$370,000
$5
Assault
$3.8 million
$54
Burglary
$280,000
$4
Theft
$980,000
$14
Vehicle theft
$530,000
$7
Arson
$12,000
under $1
Vandalism
$430,000
$6
Total
$8.9 million
$127
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 Little Elm 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. Little Elm is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Little Elm, TX average a SchoolGrade of B: 51% of students test proficient, against 46% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Little Elm on SchoolGrade
