Olney is a neighborhood of 35,200 residents in Philadelphia, about 6 miles north of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Olney in Philadelphia safe?
Olney is among the higher-crime places in the US: an overall CrimeGrade™ of F, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 97% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade F here. Philadelphia as a whole grades F. Every neighborhood in Olney grades F.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 0 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
3% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Olney as a whole, and 97% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Olney 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 Olney, Philadelphia, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Olney in Philadelphia, 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 Olney
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Philadelphia as a whole, 93% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Robberies run high. Olney has robberies at more than triple the US rate: 2.6 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
How Olney compares within Philadelphia
Every part of Olney grades D or F on the national scale.
100%
D or F 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Olney has less crime than 16 of the 64 neighborhoods in Philadelphia. It covers much of the Oxford Circle, Bustleton, and Torresdale areas.
Crime rates and types in Olney
CrimeGrade™ estimates Olney has about 70 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 88% more than the US as a whole and 18% less than Philadelphia 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Olney, about 29% 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 Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Police Department polices Olney; these figures cover Philadelphia as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Philadelphia as a whole, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (96%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (93%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (72%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (64%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (52%)
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; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars, vandalism.
How Olney compares with nearby neighborhoods
Olney has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Two things set Olney apart: it has 10 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 96% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few jobs tend to report less theft and robbery, yet theft and robbery run higher here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.10 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 89% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.96% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 82% 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. 87% of residents here live in walkable areas.A- (77 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 82% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
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 Olney: C (39 of 100).32 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 79% 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 Olney
Crime costs Olney about $3,332 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 $146 million a year, or $4,151 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 Olney 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. Olney is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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
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 Olney, Philadelphia, PA average a SchoolGrade of F: 16% of students test proficient, against 17% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Olney on SchoolGrade
