The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Radford, VA
Radford is a city of 20,200 in Radford City, about 10 miles southwest of Blacksburg · Updated November 2026
Is Radford, VA safe?
Yes, crime in Radford is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Radford sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 53% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Radford run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 853 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
53% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Radford as a whole, and 47% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Radford scores 853.
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 Radford, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Radford, 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 Radford
Reported rape stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.25 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Radford has 0.63.
Burglaries are uncommon. Radford has burglaries at about half the US rate: 1.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Radford
Every part of Radford where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Radford run from A+ to B+; 49% 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 Radford, the southeast side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Radford?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Radford is down 21%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.7 to 2.1 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 10.0 to 9.1 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 24%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
RadfordUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Radford. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Radford
Violent, US
Property, Radford
Property, US
2016
+77%
+4%
+83%
+15%
2017
+44%
+4%
+35%
+12%
2018
+13%
+0%
+28%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+8%
+4%
+22%
-8%
2021
+5%
+6%
-5%
-10%
2022
+19%
+5%
+12%
-6%
2023
-26%
+2%
+20%
-7%
2024
-21%
-4%
-9%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Radford
CrimeGrade™ estimates Radford has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 Radford, about 45% 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 Radford
Radford has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Radford, 83% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (83%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (51%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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 Radford compares with nearby cities
Radford has more crime than 2 of its 3 nearest cities. Whitethorne and Dublin have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Radford apart: it has 13.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 11 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and vandalism runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.13.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% 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 Radford: D (12 of 100).11 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 86% 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. 98% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 78% 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.77% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 74% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 71% 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.21% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 59% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Radford 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 Radford
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Radford about $905 a year per household, 25% 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 $20 million a year, or $980 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$910,000
$45
Rape
$760,000
$38
Robbery
$74,000
$4
Assault
$2.8 million
$138
Burglary
$200,000
$10
Theft
$1.0 million
$51
Vehicle theft
$110,000
$6
Arson
$22,000
$1
Vandalism
$780,000
$39
Total
$6.7 million
$330
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 Radford 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 Radford, VA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 76% of students test proficient, against 52% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Radford on SchoolGrade
