The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in St. Albans, WV
St. Albans is a city of 18,200 in Kanawha County, about 11 miles west of downtown Charleston · Updated November 2026
Is St. Albans, WV safe?
Crime in St. Albans is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than St. Albans. Violent and property crime both grade B+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within St. Albans run from A to B-, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 760 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
37% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than St. Albans as a whole, and 63% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. St. Albans scores 760.
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 St. Albans, WV at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in St. Albans, 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
The safest and least safe parts of St. Albans
Every part of St. Albans where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across St. Albans run from A to B-; 27% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within St. Albans, the southwest side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in St. Albans?
Reported crime in St. Albans has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 33% and property crime down 34%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.4 to 2.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 21 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 39% and property crime fell 12%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
St. AlbansUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves St. Albans. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, St. Albans
Violent, US
Property, St. Albans
Property, US
2016
+6%
+4%
+47%
+15%
2017
-18%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
-40%
+0%
-36%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+0%
+4%
-33%
-8%
2021
-7%
+6%
-15%
-10%
2022
-28%
+5%
-19%
-6%
2023
+10%
+2%
-25%
-7%
2024
-33%
-4%
-34%
-15%
Crime rates and types in St. Albans
CrimeGrade™ estimates St. Albans has about 37 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 53% more than West Virginia.
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 St. Albans, about 36% of everything reported, but assault 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.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How St. Albans compares with nearby cities
Of the 7 cities closest to St. Albans, 6 have less crime. Scott Depot and Poca have the least.
Empty homes, transit and walkability in St. Albans
Two things set St. Albans apart: it has 13.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 1.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. 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.13.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 94% 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 St. Albans: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower 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. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 56% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 73% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.30 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 71% 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.6% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 70% 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 St. Albans
Crime costs St. Albans about $929 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 23% less 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 $24 million a year, or $1,313 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.3 million
$70
Rape
$510,000
$28
Robbery
$120,000
$6
Assault
$2.6 million
$141
Burglary
$460,000
$25
Theft
$1.3 million
$70
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$26
Arson
$44,000
$2
Vandalism
$870,000
$47
Total
$7.6 million
$417
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 St. Albans 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 St. Albans, WV average a SchoolGrade of C: 29% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in St. Albans on SchoolGrade
