The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Wheeling, WV
Wheeling is a city of 35,300 in Ohio County and the main city of the Wheeling metro area, home to 136,900 · Updated November 2026
Is Wheeling, WV safe?
Yes, crime in Wheeling is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Wheeling sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 41% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Wheeling run from A+ to C-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 784 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
41% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Wheeling as a whole, and 59% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Wheeling scores 784.
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 Wheeling, WV at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Wheeling, 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 Wheeling
Aggravated assault stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 1.2 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Wheeling has 6.9.
Vehicle theft runs low. Wheeling has 0.89 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 2.7.
The safest and least safe parts of Wheeling
Most of Wheeling grades well: 90% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Wheeling run from A+ to C-; 46% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
90%10%
A or B 90%C 10%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Wheeling, the northeast side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Crime rates and types in Wheeling
CrimeGrade™ estimates Wheeling has about 37 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 52% more than West Virginia.
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 Wheeling, about 43% 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 Wheeling
Wheeling has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Wheeling, 60% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 36% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (60%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (33%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (36%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
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 Wheeling compares with nearby cities
Wheeling has the most crime of its 6 nearest cities.
Two things set Wheeling apart: it has 12.1% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 66 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson, and burglary runs high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.12.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 92% 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 Wheeling: F (0 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (24 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 72% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.66 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.78% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 73% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 73% 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 Wheeling
Crime costs Wheeling about $1,109 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 8% 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 $64 million a year, or $1,808 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$45
Rape
$1.1 million
$31
Robbery
$420,000
$12
Assault
$9.3 million
$262
Burglary
$1.4 million
$40
Theft
$1.9 million
$55
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$14
Arson
$57,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.1 million
$32
Total
$17 million
$492
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 Wheeling 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 Wheeling, WV average a SchoolGrade of A-: 37% of students test proficient, against 39% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Wheeling on SchoolGrade
