The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in SeaTac, WA
SeaTac is a city of 34,200 in King County, about 11 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
Is SeaTac, WA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, SeaTac has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 76% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, B+ against C-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within SeaTac run from A- to F, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 619 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
24% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than SeaTac as a whole, and 76% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. SeaTac scores 619.
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 SeaTac, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in SeaTac, 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 SeaTac
Aggravated assault is a strength. SeaTac grades B+ for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live.
Car thefts run high. SeaTac has car thefts at more than triple the US rate: 13.0 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of SeaTac
Crime varies widely across SeaTac: 43% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 29% in areas graded D or F. Grades across SeaTac run from A- to F; every part of SeaTac has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
43%28%29%
A or B 43%C 28%D or F 29%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within SeaTac, the northwest side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Is crime going up in SeaTac?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in SeaTac is down 15%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.5 to 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 38 to 37 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 22%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
SeaTacUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves SeaTac. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, SeaTac
Violent, US
Property, SeaTac
Property, US
2016
+14%
+4%
+44%
+15%
2017
+1%
+4%
+35%
+12%
2018
+11%
+0%
+27%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
+17%
-8%
2021
+12%
+6%
+44%
-10%
2022
+34%
+5%
+30%
-6%
2023
-14%
+2%
+25%
-7%
2024
-15%
-4%
-2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in SeaTac
CrimeGrade™ estimates SeaTac has about 59 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 60% more than the US as a whole and 32% more than Washington.
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 makes up about 33% of crime reported in SeaTac. Vehicle theft is less common but costs more, because each one does 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.
The Seatac Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
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 SeaTac
SeaTac has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In SeaTac, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at stores and businesses: 43% of them, against 10% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Stores and businesses (43%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (45%)
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 SeaTac compares with nearby cities
SeaTac has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities; only Normandy Park and East Hill-Meridian have less.
Two things set SeaTac apart: it has 129 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 41 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with both tend to report more theft and robbery than places with only one of them, and robbery runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.129 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% 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 SeaTac: C- (32 of 100).41 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 96% 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 52% 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
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.42% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.8.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 73% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of SeaTac 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 SeaTac
Crime costs SeaTac about $2,144 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 78% 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 $69 million a year, or $2,024 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.4 million
$129
Rape
$1.6 million
$46
Robbery
$1.2 million
$36
Assault
$4.1 million
$121
Burglary
$1.1 million
$32
Theft
$3.5 million
$102
Vehicle theft
$6.8 million
$200
Arson
$160,000
$5
Vandalism
$2.3 million
$69
Total
$25 million
$739
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 SeaTac 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 SeaTac, WA average a SchoolGrade of D-: 33% of students test proficient, against 27% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in SeaTac on SchoolGrade
