The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Tumwater, WA
Tumwater is a city of 24,200 in Thurston County, about 3 miles southwest of downtown Olympia · Updated November 2026
Is Tumwater, WA safe?
Yes, crime in Tumwater is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Tumwater sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Tumwater run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 848 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Tumwater as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Tumwater scores 848.
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 Tumwater, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Tumwater, 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 Tumwater
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages more often than nationally. In Tumwater, 40% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Tumwater
Every part of Tumwater where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Tumwater run from A+ to B+; 50% 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 Tumwater, the northwest side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Tumwater?
Reported crime in Tumwater has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 36% and property crime down 24%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.1 to 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 27 to 21 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 19% and property crime fell 18%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
TumwaterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Tumwater. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Tumwater
Violent, US
Property, Tumwater
Property, US
2016
+14%
+4%
+39%
+15%
2017
+2%
+4%
+12%
+12%
2018
+18%
+0%
+10%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-20%
+4%
-12%
-8%
2021
-36%
+6%
-4%
-10%
2022
-22%
+5%
+21%
-6%
2023
-22%
+2%
-8%
-7%
2024
-36%
-4%
-24%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Tumwater
CrimeGrade™ estimates Tumwater has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 6% more than the US as a whole and close to Washington.
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 Tumwater, about 43% 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 Tumwater
Tumwater has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Tumwater, 32% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at other places: 33% of them, against 7% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (43%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Other places (33%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Homes (24%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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 Tumwater compares with nearby cities
Of the 8 cities closest to Tumwater, 6 have less crime. Littlerock and Kamilche have the least.
Two things set Tumwater apart: it has 102 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 4.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery; here theft sits near the national middle.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.102 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 96% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 96% 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. 93% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (11 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 72% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower 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.88% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 64% 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 Tumwater: C- (26 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 61% 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 Tumwater
Crime costs Tumwater about $917 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 24% 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 $985 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.1 million
$44
Rape
$640,000
$26
Robbery
$180,000
$8
Assault
$2.4 million
$98
Burglary
$760,000
$31
Theft
$2.1 million
$87
Vehicle theft
$970,000
$40
Arson
$48,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.2 million
$48
Total
$9.3 million
$384
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 Tumwater 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 Tumwater, WA average a SchoolGrade of B+: 52% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Tumwater on SchoolGrade
