North Linden is a neighborhood of 29,300 residents in Columbus, about 5 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is North Linden in Columbus safe?
North Linden is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 94% of Americans live. Violent crime grades F and property crime D. Columbus as a whole grades C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within North Linden run from B+ to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
6% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than North Linden as a whole, and 94% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. North Linden scores 0.
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 North Linden, Columbus, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in North Linden in Columbus, 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 North Linden
Aggravated assaults are less common than in most F-graded neighborhoods. North Linden has 2.9 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an F-graded US neighborhood, the figure is 7.9.
Reported rapes run high. North Linden has reported rapes at more than triple the US rate: 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
How North Linden compares within Columbus
High crime is widespread across North Linden: 66% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and 2% in areas graded A or B. Grades across North Linden run from B+ to F; every part of North Linden has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
32%66%
A or B 2%C 32%D or F 66%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
North Linden has less crime than 9 of the 46 neighborhoods in Columbus. It covers much of the North Linden and Far North areas.
Is crime going up in Columbus?
Reported crime in Columbus as a whole has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 17% and property crime down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.2 to 4.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 34 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 17% and property crime fell 19%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ColumbusUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Columbus. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Columbus
Violent, US
Property, Columbus
Property, US
2016
+5%
+4%
+21%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
+18%
+12%
2018
-0%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+20%
+4%
-3%
-8%
2021
+34%
+6%
+2%
-10%
2022
+3%
+5%
+6%
-6%
2023
+0%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
-17%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in North Linden
CrimeGrade™ estimates North Linden has about 87 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, more than double the rate for the US as a whole and 23% more than Columbus as a whole.
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 North Linden, about 35% 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.
Where and when crime happens in Columbus
The Columbus Police Department polices North Linden; these figures cover Columbus as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Columbus as a whole, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 58% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (33%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (28%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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 North Linden compares with nearby neighborhoods
North Linden has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Olentangy River Road and Clintonville have the least crime nearby.
One thing sets North Linden apart: it has 16 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.17% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 83% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.16 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 78% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 (37 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 53% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.8.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 68% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 North Linden
Crime costs North Linden about $2,985 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 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 $126 million a year, or $4,290 per resident.
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 North Linden 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
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 North Linden, Columbus, OH average a SchoolGrade of D-: 37% of students test proficient, against 25% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in North Linden on SchoolGrade
