The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Milwaukie, OR
Milwaukie is a city of 21,800 in Clackamas County, about 6 miles southeast of downtown Portland · Updated November 2026
Is Milwaukie, OR safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Milwaukie is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Milwaukie sits near the middle: 41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Milwaukie run from A- to B-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 789 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Milwaukie as a whole, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Milwaukie scores 789.
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 Milwaukie, OR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Milwaukie, 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 Milwaukie
Car thefts run high for an A-graded city. Milwaukie has 2.5 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.93.
One part of Milwaukie stands out for theft. Thefts in Hector Campbell, in east Milwaukie, run at about double the rate in the rest of the city.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Milwaukie
Every part of Milwaukie where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Milwaukie run from A- to B-; every part of Milwaukie has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Linwood, southeastThefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Milwaukie.A-818
2Lake Road, southThefts run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Milwaukie.A-814
3Lewelling, northeastClose to the rest of Milwaukie on most crimes.A-807
4Island Station, southwestClose to the rest of Milwaukie on most crimes.A-804
5Ardenwald, northThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Milwaukie.A-783
6Hector Campbell, eastClose to the rest of Milwaukie on most crimes.A-780
7Historic Milwaukie, westSimple assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Milwaukie.B+706
Neighborhood areas of Milwaukie, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Crime rates and types in Milwaukie
CrimeGrade™ estimates Milwaukie has about 35 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 6% less than the US as a whole and 17% less than Oregon.
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 makes up about 33% of crime reported in Milwaukie. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Milwaukie
Milwaukie has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Milwaukie, 57% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 69% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (57%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (63%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (69%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (46%)
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 Milwaukie compares with nearby cities
Milwaukie has less crime than 6 of its 9 nearest cities.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Milwaukie
Two things set Milwaukie apart: it has 12 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and a Walk Grade of C (33 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 58% of residents in Milwaukie live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them; here theft sits near the national middle.
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
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 Milwaukie: C- (31 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% 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.C (33 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.61 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 66% 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.4.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 65% 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 Milwaukie
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Milwaukie about $829 a year per household, 31% 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 $18 million a year, or $839 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$670,000
$31
Rape
$560,000
$25
Robbery
$120,000
$5
Assault
$2.1 million
$97
Burglary
$300,000
$14
Theft
$1.3 million
$58
Vehicle theft
$830,000
$38
Arson
$85,000
$4
Vandalism
$1.5 million
$67
Total
$7.4 million
$340
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 Milwaukie 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 Milwaukie, OR average a SchoolGrade of C+: 36% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Milwaukie on SchoolGrade
