Puget is a neighborhood of 6,280 residents in Bellingham, close to downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Puget in Bellingham safe?
Crime in Puget is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 73% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Puget. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against C. Bellingham as a whole grades A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from B+ to B; see the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 662 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
27% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Puget as a whole, and 73% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Puget scores 662.
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 Puget, Bellingham, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Puget in Bellingham, 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 Puget
Burglary at about double the US rate. Puget has 5.1 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Puget
CrimeGrade™ estimates Puget has about 56 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 50% more than the US as a whole and close to Bellingham 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 makes up about 40% of crime reported in Puget. Vandalism is less common but 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 Bellingham
The Bellingham Police Department polices Puget; these figures cover Bellingham as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Bellingham as a whole, 35% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 37% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (42%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Stores and businesses (25%)
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 Puget compares with nearby neighborhoods
Puget has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods. Silver Beach and Samish Hill have the least crime nearby.
One thing sets Puget apart: it has 2.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, vandalism and arson, yet burglary and vandalism run higher here than that would suggest.
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 Puget: C (32 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.2.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 93% 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. 81% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 73% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.28% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 89% 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 Puget
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Puget about $1,056 a year per household, 12% 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 $6.7 million a year, or $1,062 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 Puget 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. Puget is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse 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
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 Puget, Bellingham, WA average a SchoolGrade of A: 56% of students test proficient, against 45% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Puget on SchoolGrade
