Nags Head is a town of 3,160 in Dare County, about 40 miles southeast of Elizabeth City · Updated November 2026
Is Nags Head, NC safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Nags Head is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Nags Head sits near the middle: 59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. Violent and property crime both grade A here.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 873 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Nags Head as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Nags Head scores 873.
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 Nags Head, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Nags Head, 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 Nags Head
Burglary is the exception. Nags Head grades A for property crime, but burglary grades B-, worse than in the neighborhoods where 87% of Americans live.
Crime rates and types in Nags Head
CrimeGrade™ estimates Nags Head has about 66 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 77% more than the US as a whole and 62% more than North Carolina.
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 Nags Head, about 39% 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 Nags Head
Nags Head has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Nags Head, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (27%)
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 Nags Head compares with nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to Nags Head, 5 have less crime. Southern Shores and Kitty Hawk have the least.
Two things set Nags Head apart: it has 56.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 93.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.56.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.93.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 99% 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. 85% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 54% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.9.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% 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.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.112 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 97% 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 Nags Head
Crime costs Nags Head about $1,428 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 18% more 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 $5.5 million a year, or $1,756 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$350,000
$112
Rape
$76,000
$24
Robbery
$20,000
$6
Assault
$640,000
$201
Burglary
$220,000
$70
Theft
$410,000
$130
Vehicle theft
$50,000
$16
Arson
$9,400
$3
Vandalism
$230,000
$74
Total
$2.0 million
$636
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 Nags Head 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. Nags Head is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse 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 Nags Head, NC average a SchoolGrade of B: 56% of students test proficient, against 54% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Nags Head on SchoolGrade
