Utica is the tenth-largest city in New York, with 71,900 residents in Oneida County · Updated November 2026
Is Utica, NY safe?
Crime in Utica is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B-. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Utica. Violent and property crime both grade B- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Utica run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 605 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
23% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Utica as a whole, and 77% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Utica scores 605.
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 Utica, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Utica, 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 Utica
Car thefts are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Utica runs 75% above the US rate, but car thefts run at about half that rate: 1.3 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen in the morning far more often than nationally. In Utica, 47% of reported thefts from cars happen in the morning (6 am to noon), against 23% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Utica
Crime varies widely across Utica: 44% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 33% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Utica run from A+ to F; 23% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
44%23%33%
A or B 44%C 23%D or F 33%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Utica, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Utica?
Reported crime in Utica has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 17% and property crime down 12%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.3 to 5.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 33 to 29 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
UticaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Utica. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Utica
Violent, US
Property, Utica
Property, US
2016
+2%
+4%
+12%
+15%
2017
-11%
+4%
-1%
+12%
2018
+1%
+0%
-4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-23%
+4%
-6%
-8%
2021
-17%
+6%
-1%
-10%
2022
-8%
+5%
+3%
-6%
2023
-24%
+2%
-11%
-7%
2024
-17%
-4%
-12%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Utica
CrimeGrade™ estimates Utica has about 65 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 75% more than the US as a whole and 64% more 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Utica, about 35% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
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 Utica
Utica has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Utica, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (37%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (51%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (44%)
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.
Two things set Utica apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (43 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 49% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft and assault, and they run high here.
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.C+ (43 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 89% 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.49% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 82% 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 Utica: D+ (22 of 100).8 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 81% 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.8.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 63% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.47 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 58% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Utica on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Utica
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Utica about $1,663 a year per household, 38% more 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 $139 million a year, or $1,936 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$8.3 million
$115
Rape
$1.6 million
$22
Robbery
$1.9 million
$26
Assault
$17 million
$237
Burglary
$1.7 million
$24
Theft
$8.3 million
$115
Vehicle theft
$1.4 million
$20
Arson
$230,000
$3
Vandalism
$7.5 million
$105
Total
$48 million
$668
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 Utica 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 Utica, NY average a SchoolGrade of B-: 57% of students test proficient, against 60% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Utica on SchoolGrade
