The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Salisbury, NC
Salisbury is a city of 74,900 in Rowan County, about 35 miles northeast of downtown Charlotte · Updated November 2026
Is Salisbury, NC safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Salisbury has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Salisbury run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 711 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Salisbury as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Salisbury scores 711.
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 Salisbury, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Salisbury, 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 Salisbury
Murder runs high. Salisbury has about 11 murders a year, a rate about triple the national one.
The safest and least safe parts of Salisbury
In Salisbury, 71% of residents live in areas graded A or B, 10% in areas graded C and 19% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Salisbury run from A+ to F; 51% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
71%10%19%
A or B 71%C 10%D or F 19%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Salisbury, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Salisbury
CrimeGrade™ estimates Salisbury has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to North Carolina.
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 Salisbury, about 41% of everything reported, but murder costs more, because each one does far 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 Salisbury
Salisbury has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Salisbury, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 49% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (62%)
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 Salisbury compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Salisbury, 6 have less crime. Linwood and Rockwell have the least.
Night lighting, density and walkability in Salisbury
Two things set Salisbury apart: it has 50% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and vandalism runs low here.
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.50% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 87% 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.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 84% 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. 86% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (11 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 73% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Salisbury: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.8.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 77% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.51 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 63% 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 Salisbury
Crime costs Salisbury about $1,826 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 52% more 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 $231 million a year, or $3,087 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$21 million
$282
Rape
$1.4 million
$18
Robbery
$1.8 million
$24
Assault
$13 million
$171
Burglary
$1.8 million
$24
Theft
$6.2 million
$83
Vehicle theft
$5.3 million
$70
Arson
$110,000
$1
Vandalism
$2.0 million
$26
Total
$52 million
$700
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 Salisbury 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 Salisbury, NC average a SchoolGrade of D-: 41% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Salisbury on SchoolGrade
