Wessex Square is a neighborhood of 8,880 residents in Charlotte, about 8 miles south of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Wessex Square in Charlotte safe?
Yes, crime in Wessex Square is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Wessex Square sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 54% of Americans live. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. Charlotte as a whole grades C+. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A to A-; see the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 855 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
54% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Wessex Square as a whole, and 46% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Wessex Square scores 855.
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 Wessex Square, Charlotte, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Wessex Square in Charlotte, 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 Wessex Square
Car thefts happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Charlotte as a whole, 64% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
Crime rates and types in Wessex Square
CrimeGrade™ estimates Wessex Square has about 20 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 47% less than the US as a whole and 71% less than Charlotte as a whole.
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 50% of crime reported in Wessex Square. 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 Charlotte
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department polices Wessex Square; these figures cover Charlotte as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Charlotte as a whole, 47% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 54% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (47%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (64%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (54%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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 Wessex Square compares with nearby neighborhoods
Wessex Square has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Walkability, tree cover and density in Wessex Square
Two things set Wessex Square apart: it has a Walk Grade of F (4 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and tree cover over 41% of the land where people live, against 21% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and assault, and assault runs low 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. 100% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (4 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.41% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 98% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 97% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 74% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 Wessex Square
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Wessex Square about $477 a year per household, 60% 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 $4.6 million a year, or $519 per resident.
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 Wessex Square 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
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department publishes its own crime data
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 Wessex Square, Charlotte, NC average a SchoolGrade of A+: 76% of students test proficient, against 66% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Wessex Square on SchoolGrade
