Westgate is a neighborhood of 11,300 residents in Baltimore, about 5 miles west of downtown · Updated November 2026
Is Westgate in Baltimore safe?
Crime in Westgate is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of F. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 93% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Westgate. Violent and property crime both grade F here. Baltimore as a whole grades F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Westgate run from C+ to F, so check the map below.
F
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 9 of 1,000Less safe than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
7% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Westgate as a whole, and 93% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Westgate scores 9.
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 Westgate, Baltimore, MD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Westgate in Baltimore, 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 Westgate
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Baltimore as a whole, 72% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
Vehicle theft at more than double the US rate. Westgate has 6.4 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
How Westgate compares within Baltimore
High crime is widespread across Westgate: 98% of residents live in areas graded D or F, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Westgate run from C+ to F; every part of Westgate has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
C 2%D or F 98%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Westgate has less crime than 31 of the 55 neighborhoods in Baltimore. It covers much of the Beechfielf-Irvington Area, Westgate, and Morrell Park areas.
Is crime going up in Baltimore?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Baltimore as a whole is down 14%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 19 to 16 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 43 to 42 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 19%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
BaltimoreUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments that serve Baltimore. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Baltimore
Violent, US
Property, Baltimore
Property, US
2016
-4%
+4%
+11%
+15%
2017
+9%
+4%
+14%
+12%
2018
-1%
+0%
+4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-14%
+4%
-27%
-8%
2021
-8%
+6%
-34%
-10%
2022
-8%
+5%
-22%
-6%
2023
-10%
+2%
+18%
-7%
2024
-14%
-4%
-4%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Westgate
CrimeGrade™ estimates Westgate has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% more than the US as a whole and 45% less than Baltimore 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Westgate, about 33% of everything reported.
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 Baltimore
The Baltimore Police Department polices Westgate; these figures cover Baltimore as a whole, 2022 to 2024.
In Baltimore as a whole, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (72%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (72%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Streets and sidewalks (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (58%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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 Westgate compares with nearby neighborhoods
Westgate has less crime than 6 of its 10 nearest neighborhoods.
Two things set Westgate apart: it has 0.8 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 7 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft and car theft, yet theft and car theft run higher here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft and car theft.0.8 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 99% of residents of US city neighborhoods
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.7 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of residents of US city neighborhoods
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 (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 81% of residents of US city neighborhoods
Show all 4
Tree coverThe share of land under tree canopy where people live. Leafy neighborhoods tend to report less robbery.24% where people liveUS: 21%Higher than for 85% 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 Westgate
Crime costs Westgate about $1,788 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 48% 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 $32 million a year, or $2,816 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 Westgate 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. Westgate is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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
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 Westgate, Baltimore, MD average a SchoolGrade of F: 17% of students test proficient, against 11% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Westgate on SchoolGrade
