Riverdale Park is a town of 6,510 in Prince George's County, about 7 miles northeast of downtown Washington · Updated November 2026
Is Riverdale Park, MD safe?
Riverdale Park has more crime than most of the country: an overall CrimeGrade™ of C+, with more crime than the neighborhoods where 82% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade C+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Riverdale Park run from B- to D-, so check the map below.
C+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 502 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
18% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Riverdale Park as a whole, and 82% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Riverdale Park scores 502.
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 Riverdale Park, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Riverdale Park, 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 Riverdale Park
Robbery at more than triple the US rate. Riverdale Park has 3.5 robberies a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Riverdale Park, 56% of reported thefts from cars happen in parking lots and garages, against 31% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Riverdale Park
CrimeGrade™ estimates Riverdale Park has about 58 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 56% more than the US as a whole and 41% more than Maryland.
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 Riverdale Park, about 40% of everything reported.
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 Riverdale Park
Riverdale Park has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (56%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (36%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Parking lots and garages (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Parking lots and garages (32%)
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 Riverdale Park compares with nearby cities
Riverdale Park has less crime than 8 of its 9 nearest cities; only University Park has less.
Two things set Riverdale Park apart: it has 31 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and a Walk Grade of B- (53 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. It also combines many jobs with busy transit: places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and they run high here.
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 Riverdale Park: F (5 of 100).31 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 94% 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.B- (53 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 93% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.16.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 92% 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 92% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.68 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 85% 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.3.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 84% 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 Riverdale Park
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Riverdale Park about $2,922 a year per household, more than double 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 $21 million a year, or $3,165 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.4 million
$212
Rape
$200,000
$30
Robbery
$720,000
$110
Assault
$1.3 million
$197
Burglary
$150,000
$22
Theft
$780,000
$120
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$74
Arson
$15,000
$2
Vandalism
$620,000
$96
Total
$5.6 million
$864
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 Riverdale Park 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 Riverdale Park, MD average a SchoolGrade of D-: 22% of students test proficient, against 22% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Riverdale Park on SchoolGrade
