The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Sterling, CO
Sterling is a city of 16,500 in Logan County · Updated November 2026
Is Sterling, CO safe?
Yes, crime in Sterling is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Sterling sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 59% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Sterling run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 874 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Sterling as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Sterling scores 874.
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 Sterling, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Sterling, 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 Sterling
Thefts run high for an A-graded city. Sterling has 18.2 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3.
The safest and least safe parts of Sterling
Every part of Sterling where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Sterling run from A+ to B; 41% 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 Sterling, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Sterling?
Reported crime in Sterling has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 13% and property crime down 12%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.6 to 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 29 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 19%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
SterlingUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Sterling. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Sterling
Violent, US
Property, Sterling
Property, US
2016
-26%
+4%
+7%
+15%
2017
+3%
+4%
-2%
+12%
2018
+49%
+0%
+6%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+11%
+4%
+23%
-8%
2021
-1%
+6%
+10%
-10%
2022
-31%
+5%
-13%
-6%
2023
-13%
+2%
+8%
-7%
2024
-14%
-4%
-12%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Sterling
CrimeGrade™ estimates Sterling has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 15% more than the US as a whole and close to Colorado.
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 43% of crime reported in Sterling. Assault 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.
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 Sterling
Sterling has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Sterling, 57% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 29% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (29%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Sterling compares with nearby cities
Sterling has the most crime of its 1 nearest cities.
One thing sets Sterling apart: it has 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, and car theft runs low here.
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 Sterling: F (2 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.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 83% 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. 64% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (25 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 79% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.7 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 78% of US city residents
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.82% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 69% 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 Sterling
Crime costs Sterling about $1,118 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 7% 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 $18 million a year, or $1,096 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$660,000
$40
Rape
$230,000
$14
Robbery
$47,000
$3
Assault
$2.2 million
$134
Burglary
$480,000
$29
Theft
$1.5 million
$94
Vehicle theft
$430,000
$26
Arson
$46,000
$3
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$65
Total
$6.7 million
$407
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 Sterling 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 Sterling, CO average a SchoolGrade of C: 37% of students test proficient, against 31% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Sterling on SchoolGrade
