The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Petersburg, VA
Petersburg is a city of 58,600 in Petersburg City, about 25 miles south of downtown Richmond · Updated November 2026
Is Petersburg, VA safe?
Crime in Petersburg is high by national standards, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 82% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Petersburg. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Petersburg run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 492 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
18% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Petersburg as a whole, and 82% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Petersburg scores 492.
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 Petersburg, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Petersburg, 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 Petersburg
Murder stands out among C-graded cities. For the typical resident of a C-graded US city, the figure is 0.06 murders a year per 1,000 residents; Petersburg has 0.26.
Aggravated assaults run high. Petersburg has aggravated assaults at more than double the US rate: 6.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Petersburg
Safety changes a lot from one part of Petersburg to the next: 46% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 46% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Petersburg run from A+ to F; 28% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
46%46%
A or B 46%C 8%D or F 46%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Petersburg, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Petersburg?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Petersburg is up 26% and property crime is down 18%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 8.2 to 10 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 35 to 28 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 47% and property crime fell 17%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
PetersburgUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Petersburg. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Petersburg
Violent, US
Property, Petersburg
Property, US
2016
-7%
+4%
-2%
+15%
2017
-0%
+4%
+2%
+12%
2018
-9%
+0%
-13%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-11%
+4%
-20%
-8%
2021
-14%
+6%
-37%
-10%
2022
+1%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
-14%
+2%
-2%
-7%
2024
+26%
-4%
-18%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Petersburg
CrimeGrade™ estimates Petersburg has about 54 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 46% more than the US as a whole and 58% more than Virginia.
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 Petersburg, about 39% of everything reported, but murder costs more, because each one does far 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.
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 Petersburg
Petersburg has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Petersburg, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 38% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (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.
How Petersburg compares with nearby cities
Petersburg has more crime than 7 of its 8 nearest cities. Reams and Sutherland have the least crime nearby.
Empty homes, night lighting and walkability in Petersburg
One thing sets Petersburg apart: it has 12.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.12.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 94% 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.69% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 78% 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. 88% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 67% 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.2.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 63% 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 Petersburg: D- (8 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 62% of US city residents
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 Petersburg
Crime costs Petersburg about $2,481 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about 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 $285 million a year, or $4,863 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$28 million
$484
Rape
$1.6 million
$27
Robbery
$1.2 million
$20
Assault
$16 million
$280
Burglary
$1.1 million
$19
Theft
$5.0 million
$86
Vehicle theft
$2.7 million
$46
Arson
$170,000
$3
Vandalism
$4.0 million
$69
Total
$61 million
$1,033
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 Petersburg 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 Petersburg, VA average a SchoolGrade of D-: 61% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Petersburg on SchoolGrade
