The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Spring Lake, NC
Spring Lake is a town of 21,400 in Harnett County, about 12 miles north of downtown Fayetteville · Updated November 2026
Is Spring Lake, NC safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Spring Lake has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 74% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent and property crime both grade B here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Spring Lake run from A to D+, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 644 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
26% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Spring Lake as a whole, and 74% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Spring Lake scores 644.
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 Spring Lake, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Spring Lake, 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 Spring Lake
Burglaries and aggravated assaults both run high. In Spring Lake, each runs at about double the US rate: 4.9 burglaries and 5.4 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 2.6 nationally.
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Spring Lake, 44% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Spring Lake
Low crime is the norm across Spring Lake: 81% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 3% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Spring Lake run from A to D+; 11% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
81%16%
A or B 81%C 16%D or F 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Spring Lake, the northeast side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Crime rates and types in Spring Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Spring Lake has about 61 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 64% more than the US as a whole and 50% more than 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Spring Lake, about 41% 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 Spring Lake
Spring Lake has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Spring Lake, 54% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 46% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
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 Spring Lake compares with nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to Spring Lake, 5 have less crime. Linden and Cameron have the least.
Two things set Spring Lake apart: it has 14.0% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 17 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary and vandalism run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.14.0% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.17 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 90% 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. 96% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (7 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 86% 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.54% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 85% 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 Spring Lake: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.11% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 58% 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 Spring Lake
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Spring Lake about $1,850 a year per household, 53% 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 $49 million a year, or $2,266 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.8 million
$129
Rape
$330,000
$16
Robbery
$190,000
$9
Assault
$6.4 million
$297
Burglary
$950,000
$44
Theft
$1.8 million
$82
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$61
Arson
$73,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.5 million
$72
Total
$15 million
$714
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 Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake, NC average a SchoolGrade of C-: 51% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Spring Lake on SchoolGrade
