The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Waterloo, IA
Waterloo is the ninth-largest city in Iowa, with 67,400 residents in Black Hawk County · Updated November 2026
Is Waterloo, IA safe?
Yes, crime in Waterloo is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Waterloo sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 41% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Waterloo run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 786 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Waterloo as a whole, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Waterloo scores 786.
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 Waterloo, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Waterloo, 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 Waterloo
Burglary stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; Waterloo has 4.7.
Car thefts happen at homes more often than nationally. In Waterloo, 55% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Waterloo
Most of Waterloo grades well: 79% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 7% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Waterloo run from A+ to F; 51% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
79%14%
A or B 79%C 14%D or F 7%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Waterloo, the southwest side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Waterloo?
Reported crime in Waterloo has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 16% and property crime down 13%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.6 to 4.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 28 to 24 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 18% and property crime rose 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
WaterlooUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Waterloo. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Waterloo
Violent, US
Property, Waterloo
Property, US
2016
+34%
+4%
+13%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
+4%
+12%
2018
-9%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+14%
+4%
-5%
-8%
2021
-2%
+6%
-5%
-10%
2022
+4%
+5%
-9%
-6%
2023
+3%
+2%
-24%
-7%
2024
-16%
-4%
-13%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Waterloo
CrimeGrade™ estimates Waterloo has about 46 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 25% more than the US as a whole and 63% more than Iowa.
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 Waterloo, about 34% 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.
The Waterloo Police Department's 2024 report of burglary had a month far out of line with the rest, a sign of a data-entry error or a catch-up month, so CrimeGrade™ set it aside and used the other months.
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 Waterloo
Waterloo has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Waterloo, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 51% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (55%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (61%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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 Waterloo compares with nearby cities
Waterloo has the most crime of its 5 nearest cities.
One thing sets Waterloo apart: it has 4.2 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 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
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 Waterloo: D- (10 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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. 66% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (25 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 73% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 76% 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.8.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 73% 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.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 65% 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 Waterloo
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Waterloo about $1,195 a year per household, about the same as 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 $106 million a year, or $1,574 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.2 million
$77
Rape
$1.5 million
$22
Robbery
$670,000
$10
Assault
$13 million
$186
Burglary
$2.9 million
$43
Theft
$5.5 million
$82
Vehicle theft
$2.0 million
$29
Arson
$390,000
$6
Vandalism
$3.9 million
$58
Total
$35 million
$512
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 Waterloo 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 Waterloo, IA average a SchoolGrade of C: 71% of students test proficient, against 51% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Waterloo on SchoolGrade
