The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Norwalk, CT
Norwalk is the sixth-largest city in Connecticut, with 92,000 residents in Western Connecticut Planning Region, about 13 miles west of downtown Bridgeport · Updated November 2026
Is Norwalk, CT safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Norwalk has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A+ against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Norwalk run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 888 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Norwalk as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Norwalk scores 888.
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 Norwalk, CT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Norwalk, 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 Norwalk
Aggravated assault runs low. Norwalk has 0.53 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 2.6.
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Norwalk, 64% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Norwalk
Every part of Norwalk where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Norwalk run from A+ to B; 71% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Norwalk, the northwest side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in Norwalk?
Reported property crime in Norwalk peaked in 2022 and has fallen 13% since, back near its 2019 level. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 14 to 15 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
NorwalkUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Norwalk. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Norwalk
Property, US
2016
+15%
+15%
2017
+21%
+12%
2018
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-4%
-8%
2021
-9%
-10%
2022
+23%
-6%
2023
+9%
-7%
2024
+6%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Norwalk
CrimeGrade™ estimates Norwalk has about 23 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 38% less than the US as a whole and close to Connecticut.
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 Norwalk, about 48% 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.
The Norwalk Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
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 Norwalk
Norwalk has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Norwalk, 63% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 63% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (63%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (63%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (49%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 Norwalk compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Norwalk, 6 have less crime. Weston and Wilton have the least.
Two things set Norwalk apart: it has a Walk Grade of C- (31 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 1.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Even so, 57% of residents in Norwalk live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Very walkable places tend to report more theft and assault; here theft and assault sit near the national middle.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 84% 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- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 78% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.41% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 77% 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.4.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 67% of US city residents
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.89% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 62% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Norwalk on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Norwalk
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Norwalk about $496 a year per household, 59% 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 $35 million a year, or $383 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.0 million
$11
Rape
$900,000
$10
Robbery
$450,000
$5
Assault
$5.6 million
$60
Burglary
$630,000
$7
Theft
$5.2 million
$57
Vehicle theft
$2.3 million
$25
Arson
$20,000
under $1
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$19
Total
$18 million
$194
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 Norwalk 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 Norwalk, CT average a SchoolGrade of B-: 48% of students test proficient, against 46% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Norwalk on SchoolGrade
