The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in The Dalles, OR
The Dalles is a city of 19,400 in Wasco County · Updated November 2026
Is The Dalles, OR safe?
Yes, crime in The Dalles is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, The Dalles sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 57% of Americans live. Violent crime grades better than property crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within The Dalles run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 867 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
57% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than The Dalles as a whole, and 43% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Dalles scores 867.
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 The Dalles, OR at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in The Dalles, 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 Dalles
Robbery stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.13 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; The Dalles has 0.75.
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In The Dalles, 57% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of The Dalles
Every part of The Dalles where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across The Dalles run from A+ to B+; 39% 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 The Dalles, the southwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in The Dalles?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in The Dalles is up 70% and property crime is down 20%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.2 to 3.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 22%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
The DallesUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves The Dalles. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, The Dalles
Violent, US
Property, The Dalles
Property, US
2016
-36%
+4%
+1%
+15%
2017
+39%
+4%
-14%
+12%
2018
+4%
+0%
-4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+42%
+4%
+17%
-8%
2021
+31%
+6%
+19%
-10%
2022
+73%
+5%
+21%
-6%
2023
+70%
+2%
+3%
-7%
2024
+70%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in The Dalles
CrimeGrade™ estimates The Dalles has about 41 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 10% more than the US as a whole and close to Oregon.
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 Dalles, about 45% 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.
Where and when crime happens in The Dalles
The Dalles has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In The Dalles, 39% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (39%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (65%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (57%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Aggravated assault
Homes (54%)
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 The Dalles compares with nearby cities
The Dalles has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Two things set The Dalles apart: it has 4.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 15.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.2 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 95% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.15.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 88% 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. 76% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 63% 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.75% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 75% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.7.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 63% 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 The Dalles: F (0 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 59% 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 The Dalles
Crime costs The Dalles about $1,057 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 12% 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 $22 million a year, or $1,128 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$960,000
$49
Rape
$320,000
$16
Robbery
$450,000
$23
Assault
$2.0 million
$103
Burglary
$460,000
$24
Theft
$1.8 million
$94
Vehicle theft
$580,000
$30
Arson
$220,000
$11
Vandalism
$1.3 million
$66
Total
$8.1 million
$416
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 Dalles 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 The Dalles, OR average a SchoolGrade of D-: 24% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in The Dalles on SchoolGrade
