The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Puyallup, WA
Puyallup is a city of 67,500 in Pierce County, about 30 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
Is Puyallup, WA safe?
Crime in Puyallup is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Puyallup. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A- against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Puyallup run from A to C, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 749 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
36% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Puyallup as a whole, and 64% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Puyallup scores 749.
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 Puyallup, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Puyallup, 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 Puyallup
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Puyallup, 62% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Puyallup
Low crime is the norm across Puyallup: 92% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Puyallup run from A to C; 23% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
92%
A or B 92%C 8%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Puyallup, the west side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Puyallup
CrimeGrade™ estimates Puyallup has about 45 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% more than the US as a whole and close to Washington.
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 Puyallup, about 37% 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 Puyallup
Puyallup has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Puyallup, 34% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 69% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (46%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (69%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (32%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (57%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (40%)
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 Puyallup compares with nearby cities
Puyallup has more crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities. McMillin and Bonney Lake have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Puyallup apart: it has 3.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 6.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 88% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 83% 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 (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 68% of US city residents
Show all 6
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 74% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 66% 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 Puyallup: D- (9 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 61% 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 Puyallup
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Puyallup about $1,207 a year per household, about the same as 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 $76 million a year, or $1,126 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.0 million
$44
Rape
$1.1 million
$17
Robbery
$970,000
$14
Assault
$7.7 million
$114
Burglary
$2.3 million
$34
Theft
$5.8 million
$85
Vehicle theft
$6.6 million
$98
Arson
$270,000
$4
Vandalism
$3.7 million
$55
Total
$31 million
$466
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 Puyallup 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 Puyallup, WA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 49% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Puyallup on SchoolGrade
