The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Multnomah County, OR
Multnomah County, the most populous county in Oregon, is home to 801,500 residents and includes Portland and Gresham · Updated November 2026
Is Multnomah County, OR safe?
Crime in Multnomah County 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 Multnomah County. Violent crime grades B- and property crime C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Multnomah County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 479 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
17% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Multnomah County as a whole, and 83% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Multnomah County scores 479.
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 Multnomah County, OR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Multnomah County, 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 Multnomah County
Theft stands out among C-graded counties. For the typical resident of a C-graded US county, the figure is 17.7 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Multnomah County has 33.8.
Car thefts and arsons both run high. In Multnomah County, each runs at about triple the US rate: 7.9 car thefts and 0.36 arsons a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 0.12 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Multnomah County
Safety changes a lot from one part of Multnomah County to the next: 32% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 44% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Multnomah County run from A+ to F; 5% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
32%24%44%
A or B 32%C 24%D or F 44%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Multnomah County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Lake Oswego area has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Multnomah County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Multnomah County is up 23%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.3 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 50 to 49 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Multnomah CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Multnomah County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Multnomah County
Violent, US
Property, Multnomah County
Property, US
2016
-11%
+4%
-4%
+15%
2017
-10%
+4%
+6%
+12%
2018
-4%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+4%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
+36%
+6%
+8%
-10%
2022
+33%
+5%
+17%
-6%
2023
+26%
+2%
+7%
-7%
2024
+23%
-4%
-2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Multnomah County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Multnomah County has about 73 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and 73% more 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 is the most common crime in Multnomah County, about 46% 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 Multnomah County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Multnomah County, 2022 to 2024.
In Multnomah County, 34% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 34% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (46%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (39%)
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 Multnomah County compares with nearby counties
Multnomah County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Multnomah County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Multnomah County has more crime than 94% of them.
Two things set Multnomah County apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (42 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 65 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 94% of Americans
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.C+ (42 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 93% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.65 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 93% of Americans
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 Multnomah County: C (33 of 100).18 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 92% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.44% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% of Americans
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.98% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 78% of Americans
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 Multnomah County
Crime costs Multnomah County about $2,017 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 67% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $689 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $2.11 billion a year, or $2,637 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$135 million
$169
Rape
$24 million
$30
Robbery
$38 million
$48
Assault
$149 million
$186
Burglary
$45 million
$56
Theft
$139 million
$173
Vehicle theft
$97 million
$121
Arson
$6.8 million
$9
Vandalism
$55 million
$68
Total
$689 million
$860
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 Multnomah County 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 Multnomah County, OR average a SchoolGrade of B-: 39% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Multnomah County on SchoolGrade
