The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Opelika, AL
Opelika is a city of 47,500 in Lee County, about 7 miles east of downtown Auburn · Updated November 2026
Is Opelika, AL safe?
Mostly, yes. Crime in Opelika is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-, but most US neighborhoods are safer still: Opelika has more crime than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Opelika run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 772 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
39% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Opelika as a whole, and 61% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Opelika scores 772.
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 Opelika, AL at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Opelika, 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 Opelika
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Opelika runs 51% above the US rate, but car thefts run 37% below it: 1.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Aggravated assaults run high for an A-graded city. Opelika has 4.0 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2.
The safest and least safe parts of Opelika
Low crime is the norm across Opelika: 88% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 9% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Opelika run from A+ to F; 47% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
88%
A or B 88%C 3%D or F 9%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Opelika, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Opelika
CrimeGrade™ estimates Opelika has about 56 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 51% more than the US as a whole and 40% more than Alabama.
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 Opelika, about 51% 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 Opelika
Opelika has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Opelika, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 47% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (57%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Homes (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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 Opelika compares with nearby cities
Opelika has the most crime of its 5 nearest cities.
Walkability, transit and night lighting in Opelika
Two things set Opelika apart: it has a Walk Grade of D- (7 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 3% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, yet assault runs higher here than that would suggest.
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. 92% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 86% 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 Opelika: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.60% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 83% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.14.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 82% 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.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower 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.2.8 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 81% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Opelika 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 Opelika
Crime costs Opelika about $1,707 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 42% 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 $104 million a year, or $2,190 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$6.9 million
$145
Rape
$1.4 million
$29
Robbery
$600,000
$13
Assault
$14 million
$294
Burglary
$760,000
$16
Theft
$4.3 million
$91
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$26
Arson
$79,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$36
Total
$31 million
$652
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 Opelika 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 Opelika, AL average a SchoolGrade of C+: 40% of students test proficient, against 35% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Opelika on SchoolGrade
