The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Wilson County, NC
Wilson County is home to 79,300 residents and includes Wilson and Elm City · Updated November 2026
Is Wilson County, NC safe?
Crime in Wilson County is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Wilson County. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Wilson County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 759 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
37% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Wilson County as a whole, and 63% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Wilson County scores 759.
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 Wilson County, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Wilson County, 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 Wilson County
Murder runs high. Wilson County has about 15 murders a year, a rate more than triple the national one.
Car thefts happen at homes more often than nationally. In Wilson County, 56% of reported car thefts happen at homes, against 33% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Wilson County
Safety changes a lot from one part of Wilson County to the next: 75% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 21% live in areas graded D or F. Grades across Wilson County run from A+ to F; 44% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
75%21%
A or B 75%C 4%D or F 21%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Wilson County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Lucama area has the least crime and the Wilson area the most.
Is crime going up in Wilson County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Wilson County is up 20% and property crime is down 22%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.5 to 4.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 23 to 18 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Wilson CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Wilson County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Wilson County
Violent, US
Property, Wilson County
Property, US
2016
+13%
+4%
+36%
+15%
2017
+34%
+4%
+18%
+12%
2018
+9%
+0%
+18%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+17%
+4%
-3%
-8%
2021
+25%
+6%
-16%
-10%
2022
+10%
+5%
-25%
-6%
2023
+6%
+2%
-18%
-7%
2024
+20%
-4%
-22%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Wilson County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Wilson County has about 36 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and close to North Carolina.
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 Wilson County, about 38% of everything reported, but murder costs more, because each one does far 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 Wilson County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Wilson County, 2022 to 2024.
In Wilson County, 70% 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 (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (59%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (37%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (58%)
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 Wilson County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Wilson County, 6 have less crime. Greene County and Johnston County have the least.
Two things set Wilson County apart: it has 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally, and 9.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places where few residents live in dense blocks tend to report less robbery, yet robbery runs higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 90% of Americans
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 Wilson County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
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. 88% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 74% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.9.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 86% of Americans
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.64% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 75% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 64% of Americans
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 Wilson County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Wilson County about $1,720 a year per household, 43% 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 $263 million a year, or $3,321 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$28 million
$353
Rape
$960,000
$12
Robbery
$1.1 million
$13
Assault
$12 million
$154
Burglary
$1.6 million
$20
Theft
$5.7 million
$72
Vehicle theft
$2.4 million
$30
Arson
$400,000
$5
Vandalism
$3.2 million
$40
Total
$55 million
$699
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 Wilson County 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 Wilson County, NC average a SchoolGrade of B-: 57% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Wilson County on SchoolGrade
