McDonald Chapel is an unincorporated community of 760 in Jefferson County, about 7 miles west of downtown Birmingham · Updated November 2026
Is McDonald Chapel, AL safe?
Crime in McDonald Chapel is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 83% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than McDonald Chapel. Violent crime grades C and property crime B-.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 480 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
17% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than McDonald Chapel as a whole, and 83% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. McDonald Chapel scores 480.
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 McDonald Chapel, AL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in McDonald Chapel, 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
Crime rates and types in McDonald Chapel
CrimeGrade™ estimates McDonald Chapel has about 94 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and more than double the rate for Alabama.
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.
Assault is the most common crime in McDonald Chapel, about 32% 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 McDonald Chapel compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to McDonald Chapel, 7 have less crime. Maytown and Pleasant Grove have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from McDonald Chapel. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, McDonald Chapel has more crime than 99% of them.
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs McDonald Chapel about $3,261 a year per household, more than double 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 $4.0 million a year, or $5,229 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$340,000
$454
Rape
$24,000
$31
Robbery
$26,000
$34
Assault
$290,000
$375
Burglary
$67,000
$88
Theft
$95,000
$125
Vehicle theft
$95,000
$125
Arson
$11,000
$15
Vandalism
$100,000
$135
Total
$1.1 million
$1,382
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 McDonald Chapel 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 McDonald Chapel, AL average a SchoolGrade of F: 16% of students test proficient, against 9% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in McDonald Chapel on SchoolGrade
