The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Red Oak, TX
Red Oak is a city of 27,900 in Ellis County, about 18 miles south of downtown Dallas · Updated November 2026
Is Red Oak, TX safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Red Oak is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Red Oak sits near the middle: 56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 862 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
56% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Red Oak as a whole, and 44% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Red Oak scores 862.
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 Red Oak, TX at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Red Oak, 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 Red Oak
Car thefts happen at stores and businesses far more often than nationally. In Red Oak, 29% of reported car thefts happen at stores and businesses, against 10% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Red Oak
Every part of Red Oak where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Red Oak run from A+ to A-; 68% 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 Red Oak, the southeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Red Oak
CrimeGrade™ estimates Red Oak has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% less than the US as a whole and 41% less than Texas.
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 37% of crime reported in Red Oak. Assault 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 Red Oak
Red Oak has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Red Oak, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 51% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Homes (42%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Theft from cars
Homes (51%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (32%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (77%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times; they are over one in five for burglary, car theft, theft from cars, vandalism, aggravated assault.
How Red Oak compares with nearby cities
Red Oak has less crime than 4 of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set Red Oak apart: it has 16 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 3.5 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places with few jobs tend to report less theft and robbery, and theft runs low here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.16 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 92% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 91% 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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (6 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 89% of US city residents
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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 Red Oak: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower 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.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 76% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Red Oak 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 Red Oak
Crime costs Red Oak about $842 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 30% 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 $18 million a year, or $639 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$480,000
$17
Rape
$370,000
$13
Robbery
$230,000
$8
Assault
$2.5 million
$89
Burglary
$390,000
$14
Theft
$1.3 million
$47
Vehicle theft
$1.1 million
$39
Arson
$8,800
under $1
Vandalism
$720,000
$26
Total
$7.1 million
$253
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 Red Oak 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. Red Oak 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 Red Oak, TX average a SchoolGrade of C: 44% of students test proficient, against 34% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Red Oak on SchoolGrade
