The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Scranton, PA
Scranton is the seventh-largest city in Pennsylvania, with 76,200 residents in Lackawanna County · Updated November 2026
Is Scranton, PA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Scranton has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 71% 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 Scranton run from A+ to C-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 680 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Scranton as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Scranton scores 680.
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 Scranton, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Scranton, 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 Scranton
Robbery is a strength. Scranton grades B- for violent crime, but robbery grades A.
Car thefts run high in The Hill Section, Petersburg & Downtown. In this part of east Scranton, they run at about double the rate in the rest of Scranton.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Scranton
Low crime is the norm across Scranton: 78% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Scranton run from A+ to C-; 8% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
78%22%
A or B 78%C 22%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1The Plot & Green Ridge, northeastCar thefts run about 20% lower here than in the rest of Scranton.B+742
2Providence & North Scranton, northClose to the rest of Scranton on most crimes.B691
3Minooka, southwestSimple assaults run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Scranton.B663
5South Side, southThefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Scranton.B-571
6West Side, westCar thefts run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Scranton.C+537
Neighborhood areas of Scranton, 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 Scranton?
Reported crime in Scranton has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 82% and property crime down 23%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 16 to 2.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 13 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
ScrantonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Scranton. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Scranton
Violent, US
Property, Scranton
Property, US
2016
-82%
+4%
+26%
+15%
2017
-83%
+4%
+26%
+12%
2018
-32%
+0%
+12%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-40%
+4%
-29%
-8%
2021
-74%
+6%
-19%
-10%
2022
-73%
+5%
-2%
-6%
2023
-80%
+2%
-19%
-7%
2024
-82%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Scranton
CrimeGrade™ estimates Scranton has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 13% less than the US as a whole and close to Pennsylvania.
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 Scranton, about 37% 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 Scranton
Scranton has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Scranton, 71% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 53% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (71%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (53%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (39%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 Scranton compares with nearby cities
Scranton has the most crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set Scranton apart: it has 13.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and a Walk Grade of B- (48 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 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.13.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher 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- (48 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 91% 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 Scranton: F (1 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.51% of residentsUS: 24%Higher 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.12.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 73% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 71% 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 Scranton
Crime costs Scranton about $1,185 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, about the same as 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 $143 million a year, or $1,871 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$12 million
$155
Rape
$4.2 million
$55
Robbery
$750,000
$10
Assault
$9.1 million
$119
Burglary
$1.3 million
$17
Theft
$4.0 million
$52
Vehicle theft
$1.5 million
$20
Arson
$290,000
$4
Vandalism
$3.0 million
$39
Total
$36 million
$470
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 Scranton 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 Scranton, PA average a SchoolGrade of D+: 39% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Scranton on SchoolGrade
