Salem is the capital of Oregon, a city of 198,700 in Marion County · Updated November 2026
Is Salem, OR safe?
Crime in Salem is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Salem. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against C. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Salem run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 645 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Salem as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Salem scores 645.
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 Salem, OR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Salem, 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 Salem
One part of Salem stands out for burglary. Burglaries in Grant & Highland, in north Salem, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Acts of vandalism run high for a B-graded city. Salem has 24.3 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 6.1.
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Salem, 58% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Salem
Crime varies widely across Salem: 67% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 20% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Salem run from A+ to F; 27% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
67%13%20%
A or B 67%C 13%D or F 20%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Southeast Mill Creek, southeastCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Salem.A-815
2Oak Park, northeastCar thefts run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Salem.B-545
3Grant & Highland, northCar thefts run at about double the rate in the rest of Salem.D-146
Neighborhood areas of Salem, 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 Salem?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Salem is up 28% and property crime is down 32%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.1 to 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 40 to 28 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 15% and property crime fell 13%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
SalemUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police agencies that serve Salem. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Salem
Violent, US
Property, Salem
Property, US
2016
-22%
+4%
-1%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
+5%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
+3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-0%
+4%
-5%
-8%
2021
+14%
+6%
-10%
-10%
2022
+20%
+5%
-10%
-6%
2023
+12%
+2%
-21%
-7%
2024
+28%
-4%
-32%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Salem
CrimeGrade™ estimates Salem has about 63 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 70% more than the US as a whole and 51% more than Oregon.
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.
Vandalism is the most common crime in Salem, 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 Salem
Salem has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Salem, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 47% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (44%)
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 Salem compares with nearby cities
Salem has more crime than 3 of its 5 nearest cities. Shaw and Turner have the least crime nearby.
One thing sets Salem apart: it has 7 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. 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 Salem: D+ (22 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 75% 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. 71% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 64% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower 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.89% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 62% 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.24% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 61% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Salem 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 Salem
Crime costs Salem about $1,822 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 51% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $129 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 $335 million a year, or $1,687 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$15 million
$74
Rape
$4.3 million
$22
Robbery
$4.9 million
$25
Assault
$32 million
$160
Burglary
$7.2 million
$36
Theft
$19 million
$93
Vehicle theft
$11 million
$55
Arson
$2.6 million
$13
Vandalism
$34 million
$172
Total
$129 million
$649
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 Salem 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 Salem, OR average a SchoolGrade of D+: 28% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Salem on SchoolGrade
