The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Plainfield, IN
Plainfield is a town of 40,500 in Hendricks County, about 14 miles west of downtown Indianapolis · Updated November 2026
Is Plainfield, IN safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Plainfield: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 889 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Plainfield as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Plainfield scores 889.
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 Plainfield, IN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Plainfield, 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 Plainfield
Burglaries are uncommon. Plainfield has burglaries at less than half the US rate: 0.93 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Car thefts happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Plainfield, 34% of reported car thefts happen at stores and businesses, against 10% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Plainfield
Every part of Plainfield where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Plainfield run from A+ to A-; 91% 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 Plainfield, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Plainfield?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Plainfield is up 57% and property crime is down 20%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 1.6 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 15 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 99% and property crime fell 20%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
PlainfieldUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Plainfield. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Plainfield
Violent, US
Property, Plainfield
Property, US
2016
+82%
+4%
+61%
+15%
2017
+66%
+4%
+43%
+12%
2018
+74%
+0%
+28%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-23%
+4%
-24%
-8%
2021
-13%
+6%
+0%
-10%
2022
-1%
+5%
-1%
-6%
2023
-27%
+2%
-1%
-7%
2024
+57%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Plainfield
CrimeGrade™ estimates Plainfield has about 27 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 27% less than the US as a whole and close to Indiana.
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 Plainfield, about 40% 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.
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 Plainfield
Plainfield has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Plainfield, 52% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 40% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (36%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (40%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (44%)
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 Plainfield compares with nearby cities
Plainfield has more crime than 6 of its 7 nearest cities. Cartersburg and Clayton have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Plainfield apart: it has 5.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 89 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.89 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 94% 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. 86% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 77% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 74% 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 Plainfield: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 59% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 57% 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 Plainfield
Crime costs Plainfield about $755 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 37% 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 $27 million a year, or $676 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$660,000
$16
Rape
$660,000
$16
Robbery
$290,000
$7
Assault
$4.4 million
$109
Burglary
$340,000
$8
Theft
$2.3 million
$56
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$31
Arson
$33,000
$1
Vandalism
$860,000
$21
Total
$11 million
$266
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 Plainfield 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 Plainfield, IN average a SchoolGrade of A+: 56% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Plainfield on SchoolGrade
