The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Van Wert, OH
Van Wert is a city of 14,400 in Van Wert County, about 25 miles west of downtown Lima · Updated November 2026
Is Van Wert, OH safe?
Yes, crime in Van Wert is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Van Wert sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 59% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Van Wert run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 875 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Van Wert as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Van Wert scores 875.
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 Van Wert, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Van Wert, 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 Van Wert
Simple assault is the exception. Van Wert grades A for violent crime, but simple assault grades B+, worse than in the neighborhoods where 65% of Americans live.
The safest and least safe parts of Van Wert
Every part of Van Wert where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Van Wert run from A+ to B+; 38% 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 Van Wert, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Van Wert?
Reported crime in Van Wert has held about steady since 2019: violent crime is up 8% and property crime up 2%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.2 to 2.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 32 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 47% and property crime rose 26%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Van WertUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Van Wert. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Van Wert
Violent, US
Property, Van Wert
Property, US
2016
+25%
+4%
+5%
+15%
2017
-4%
+4%
-2%
+12%
2018
+31%
+0%
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+25%
+4%
-28%
-8%
2021
+58%
+6%
-15%
-10%
2022
+50%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
+104%
+2%
-19%
-7%
2024
+8%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Van Wert
CrimeGrade™ estimates Van Wert has about 52 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 39% more than the US as a whole and 47% more than Ohio.
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 44% of crime reported in Van Wert. 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 Van Wert
Van Wert has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Van Wert, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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 Van Wert compares with nearby cities
Van Wert has the most crime of its 3 nearest cities.
Two things set Van Wert apart: it has 4.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
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
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 87% 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 58% of US city residents
Show all 6
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 Van Wert: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.65 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 82% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.0 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 76% 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 Van Wert
Crime costs Van Wert about $1,064 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 $15 million a year, or $1,061 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$680,000
$47
Rape
$330,000
$23
Robbery
$21,000
$1
Assault
$2.2 million
$153
Burglary
$400,000
$28
Theft
$1.7 million
$118
Vehicle theft
$110,000
$8
Arson
$28,000
$2
Vandalism
$890,000
$62
Total
$6.4 million
$442
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 Van Wert 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. Van Wert is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Van Wert, OH average a SchoolGrade of B+: 68% of students test proficient, against 59% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Van Wert on SchoolGrade
