The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Syracuse, NY
The Syracuse metro area, the 89th-largest in the US, is home to 656,400 residents; Syracuse itself is the fifth-largest city in New York · Updated November 2026
Is Syracuse, NY safe?
Yes, crime in the Syracuse area is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, the Syracuse area sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. The city of Syracuse itself grades C+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Syracuse area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 846 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Syracuse area as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Syracuse area scores 846.
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 Syracuse, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Syracuse area, 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 the Syracuse area
Robberies run high in North Valley, Brighton & South Valley. In this part of south Syracuse, they run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Syracuse.
Arsons are uncommon. The Syracuse area has arsons at less than half the US rate: 0.05 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.12 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in the Syracuse area
Low crime is the norm across the Syracuse area: 83% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 13% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Syracuse area run from A+ to F; 69% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
83%13%
A or B 83%C 4%D or F 13%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Syracuse
1University-Syracuse, Outer Comstock & Skytop, southeastAggravated assaults run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Syracuse.B+737
2Eastwood, northeastCar thefts run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Syracuse.B689
3Strathmore, Skunk City & Elmwood, southwestBurglaries run at less than half the rate in the rest of Syracuse.B669
Neighborhood areas of the city of Syracuse, 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.
Cities and towns in the Syracuse metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the area, the Constantia area has the least crime and the Jamesville, Tully, and Nedrow areas the most.
Is crime going up in the Syracuse area?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in the Syracuse area is down 10%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.8 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 17 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Syracuse areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the Syracuse area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Syracuse area
Violent, US
Property, Syracuse area
Property, US
2016
-1%
+4%
+17%
+15%
2017
-4%
+4%
+24%
+12%
2018
-6%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
-2%
-8%
2021
-5%
+6%
-23%
-10%
2022
+15%
+5%
+0%
-6%
2023
+4%
+2%
+13%
-7%
2024
-10%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in the Syracuse area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Syracuse area has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% less than the US as a whole and 20% less than New York.
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 the Syracuse area, 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 the Syracuse area compares with nearby metro areas
The Syracuse area has more crime than 6 of its 10 nearest metro areas. The Poughkeepsie area and the Allentown area have the least crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Syracuse area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Syracuse area is safer than 66% of them.
Night lighting, transit and density in the Syracuse area
One thing sets the Syracuse area apart: it has 10 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
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.65% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% of Americans in metro areas
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Syracuse area: D (14 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 81% of Americans in metro areas
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.16% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 64% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.6.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 54% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Syracuse area
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs the Syracuse area about $903 a year per household, 25% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $242 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $752 million a year, or $1,146 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$49 million
$74
Rape
$11 million
$16
Robbery
$8.2 million
$13
Assault
$71 million
$108
Burglary
$14 million
$22
Theft
$39 million
$60
Vehicle theft
$25 million
$39
Arson
$840,000
$1
Vandalism
$24 million
$37
Total
$242 million
$369
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 the Syracuse area 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. These figures cover the whole Syracuse metro area. 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
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 the Syracuse area average a SchoolGrade of C-: 51% of students test proficient, against 59% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in the Syracuse area on SchoolGrade
