The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Roanoke, VA
Roanoke is the ninth-largest city in Virginia, with 119,700 residents in Roanoke City · Updated November 2026
Is Roanoke, VA safe?
Crime in Roanoke is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Roanoke. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B against B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Roanoke run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 597 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
23% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Roanoke as a whole, and 77% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Roanoke scores 597.
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 Roanoke, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Roanoke, 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 Roanoke
Car thefts run high in Downtown Roanoke & Loudon-Melrose. In this part of central Roanoke, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Roanoke.
Theft stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 15.4 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; Roanoke has 28.1.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Roanoke
Safety changes a lot from one part of Roanoke to the next: 58% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 27% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Roanoke run from A+ to F; 21% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
58%15%27%
A or B 58%C 15%D or F 27%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Raleigh Court, Deyerle & Colonial Avenue, southwestCar thefts run at less than half the rate in the rest of Roanoke.A-827
2Garden City, Morningside & Riverdale, southeastBurglaries run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Roanoke.B+761
3South Roanoke, Wasena & Southern Hills, southSimple assaults run at about half the rate in the rest of Roanoke.B+741
4Preston Park, Williamson Road & Mecca Gardens, northeastCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Roanoke.B+720
5Roundhill, Melrose-Rugby & Washington Park, northThefts run about 90% higher here than in the rest of Roanoke.C+484
6Peters Creek North, South Washington Heights & Peachtree-Norwood, northwestRobberies run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Roanoke.C+465
7Cherry Hill, Shenandoah West & Wilmont, westAggravated assaults run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Roanoke.C-375
8Belmont & Kenwood, eastBurglaries run at more than double the rate in the rest of Roanoke.C-320
9Downtown Roanoke & Loudon-Melrose, centralAggravated assaults run at more than double the rate in the rest of Roanoke.F40
Neighborhood areas of Roanoke, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Roanoke?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Roanoke is up 57%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.9 to 6.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 45 to 40 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
RoanokeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Roanoke. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Roanoke
Violent, US
Property, Roanoke
Property, US
2016
+6%
+4%
-5%
+15%
2017
+4%
+4%
+2%
+12%
2018
+12%
+0%
+1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+15%
+4%
-14%
-8%
2021
+25%
+6%
-16%
-10%
2022
+56%
+5%
-3%
-6%
2023
+50%
+2%
-12%
-7%
2024
+57%
-4%
-10%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Roanoke
CrimeGrade™ estimates Roanoke has about 75 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about double the rate for the US as a whole and more than double the rate for 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 Roanoke, about 38% 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 Roanoke
Roanoke has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Roanoke, 65% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 39% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (52%)
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 Roanoke compares with nearby cities
Roanoke has the most crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set Roanoke apart: it has 9.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 64 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and they run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.9.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 85% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.64 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% 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. 73% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (22 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 65% 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.12.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 74% 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 Roanoke: D (14 of 100).4 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 66% 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.87% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 64% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Roanoke 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 Roanoke
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Roanoke about $1,872 a year per household, 55% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $99 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 $306 million a year, or $2,558 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$20 million
$169
Rape
$5.5 million
$46
Robbery
$2.8 million
$23
Assault
$34 million
$284
Burglary
$3.4 million
$29
Theft
$17 million
$144
Vehicle theft
$5.9 million
$49
Arson
$930,000
$8
Vandalism
$9.0 million
$75
Total
$99 million
$827
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 Roanoke 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
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 Roanoke, VA average a SchoolGrade of B-: 72% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Roanoke on SchoolGrade
