The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Reading, PA
Reading is a city of 181,500 in Berks County and the main city of the Reading metro area, home to 433,000 · Updated November 2026
Is Reading, PA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Reading has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Reading run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 763 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Reading as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Reading scores 763.
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 Reading, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Reading, 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 Reading
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Reading, 74% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Aggravated assaults and car thefts both run low. In Reading, each runs at about half the US rate: 1.3 aggravated assaults and 1.5 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 and 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Reading
Crime varies widely across Reading: 64% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 22% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Reading run from A+ to F; 48% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
64%14%22%
A or B 64%C 14%D or F 22%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Reading, the west side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Reading
CrimeGrade™ estimates Reading has about 30 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 20% less than the US as a whole and close to Pennsylvania.
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 Reading, about 35% 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 Reading
Reading has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Reading, 67% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (67%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (71%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (74%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (68%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Streets and sidewalks (47%)
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 Reading compares with nearby cities
Reading has more crime than 7 of its 8 nearest cities. Wyomissing and Shillington have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Reading apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (41 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 50% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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.C+ (41 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 88% 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 Reading: D+ (23 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.50% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower 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.1.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 64% 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.93% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 57% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Reading 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 Reading
Crime costs Reading about $989 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 18% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $65 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $214 million a year, or $1,179 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$17 million
$94
Rape
$2.5 million
$14
Robbery
$3.3 million
$18
Assault
$18 million
$101
Burglary
$2.6 million
$14
Theft
$9.6 million
$53
Vehicle theft
$4.1 million
$23
Arson
$340,000
$2
Vandalism
$6.9 million
$38
Total
$65 million
$356
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 Reading 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. Reading is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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 Reading, PA average a SchoolGrade of D: 36% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Reading on SchoolGrade
