The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Oakland, CT
Oakland is a town of 23,600 in Capitol Planning Region, about 8 miles east of downtown Hartford · Updated November 2026
Is Oakland, CT safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A- means crime in Oakland is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Oakland sits near the middle: 52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to B+; see the map and the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 845 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Oakland as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Oakland scores 845.
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 Oakland, CT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Oakland, 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 Oakland
Aggravated assaults are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Oakland runs 51% above the US rate, but aggravated assaults run at a small fraction of that rate: 0.54 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Thefts run high for an A-graded city. Oakland has 28.0 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3.
How neighborhoods in Oakland compare
Every part of Oakland where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Oakland run from A to B+; 55% 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.
1Robertson, northwestCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Oakland.A883
2Buckley, eastThefts run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Oakland.A855
3Waddell, southwestSimple assaults run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Oakland.A-797
4Bowers, southSimple assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Oakland.A-775
Neighborhood areas of Oakland, 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.
Crime rates and types in Oakland
CrimeGrade™ estimates Oakland has about 56 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 51% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for 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 Oakland, about 50% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
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 Oakland
The Manchester Police Department polices Oakland; these figures cover Manchester as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Manchester as a whole, 58% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 53% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (58%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (53%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
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 Oakland compares with nearby cities
Oakland has more crime than 5 of its 8 nearest cities. Bolton and Glastonbury have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Oakland apart: it has 21.0 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 19 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and theft runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.21.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 97% 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 Oakland: D+ (24 of 100).19 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 91% 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. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 57% 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.3.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 88% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.71 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 87% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 65% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Oakland 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 Oakland
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Oakland about $957 a year per household, 21% 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 $17 million a year, or $713 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$300,000
$13
Rape
$640,000
$27
Robbery
$240,000
$10
Assault
$3.2 million
$137
Burglary
$270,000
$11
Theft
$3.4 million
$144
Vehicle theft
$810,000
$34
Arson
$22,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$47
Total
$10.0 million
$425
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 Oakland 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 Oakland, CT average a SchoolGrade of C-: 39% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Oakland on SchoolGrade
