The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Mountlake Terrace, WA
Mountlake Terrace is a city of 23,000 in Snohomish County, about 13 miles north of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
Is Mountlake Terrace, WA safe?
Crime in Mountlake Terrace is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Mountlake Terrace. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Mountlake Terrace run from B+ to C, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 663 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Mountlake Terrace as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Mountlake Terrace scores 663.
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 Mountlake Terrace, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Mountlake Terrace, 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 Mountlake Terrace
Car thefts run high in Gateway. In this part of south Mountlake Terrace, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Mountlake Terrace.
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most B-graded cities. Mountlake Terrace has 1.3 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 3.1.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Mountlake Terrace
Most of Mountlake Terrace grades well: 81% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Mountlake Terrace run from B+ to C; every part of Mountlake Terrace has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
81%19%
A or B 81%C 19%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Melody Hill, northwestBurglaries run at about double the rate in the rest of Mountlake Terrace.B658
2North Terrace, northeastThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Mountlake Terrace.B655
3Lake Ballinger, westThefts run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Mountlake Terrace.B648
4Gateway, southThefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Mountlake Terrace.C+502
Neighborhood areas of Mountlake Terrace, 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.
Is crime going up in Mountlake Terrace?
Since 2019, reported property crime in Mountlake Terrace is down 15%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.8 to 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 19 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 24% and property crime fell 33%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Mountlake TerraceUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Mountlake Terrace. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Mountlake Terrace
Violent, US
Property, Mountlake Terrace
Property, US
2016
-26%
+4%
+10%
+15%
2017
+5%
+4%
+15%
+12%
2018
+5%
+0%
+14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+0%
+4%
+11%
-8%
2021
-17%
+6%
+29%
-10%
2022
-16%
+5%
+22%
-6%
2023
-24%
+2%
+26%
-7%
2024
-6%
-4%
-15%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Mountlake Terrace
CrimeGrade™ estimates Mountlake Terrace has about 44 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 18% more than the US as a whole and close to Washington.
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.
Vandalism is the most common crime in Mountlake Terrace, about 30% of everything reported, but assault 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 Mountlake Terrace
Mountlake Terrace has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Mountlake Terrace, 32% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 55% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (48%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
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 Mountlake Terrace compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Mountlake Terrace, 9 have less crime. Woodway and Bothell West have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Mountlake Terrace. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Mountlake Terrace has more crime than 87% of them.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Mountlake Terrace
Two things set Mountlake Terrace apart: it has 21 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 5.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run high 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.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 Mountlake Terrace: C (37 of 100).21 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% 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. 69% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (27 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 77% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.5.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 88% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.0.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 85% 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.3.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 80% 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 Mountlake Terrace
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Mountlake Terrace about $1,111 a year per household, 8% 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 $19 million a year, or $835 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$810,000
$35
Rape
$110,000
$5
Robbery
$370,000
$16
Assault
$2.3 million
$98
Burglary
$590,000
$26
Theft
$1.5 million
$64
Vehicle theft
$1.8 million
$78
Arson
$42,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.2 million
$94
Total
$9.6 million
$417
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 Mountlake Terrace 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 Mountlake Terrace, WA average a SchoolGrade of A-: 56% of students test proficient, against 46% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Mountlake Terrace on SchoolGrade
