The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Zebulon, NC
Zebulon is a town of 27,700 in Wake County, about 19 miles east of downtown Raleigh · Updated November 2026
Is Zebulon, NC safe?
Yes, crime in Zebulon is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Zebulon sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 58% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Zebulon run from A+ to B, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 873 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
58% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Zebulon as a whole, and 42% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Zebulon scores 873.
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 Zebulon, NC at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Zebulon, 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
The safest and least safe parts of Zebulon
Every part of Zebulon where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Zebulon run from A+ to B; 73% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Zebulon, the northwest side has the least crime and the south side the most.
Crime rates and types in Zebulon
CrimeGrade™ estimates Zebulon has about 29 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 22% less than the US as a whole and 29% less than 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Zebulon, about 36% 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 Zebulon
Zebulon has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Zebulon, 53% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 67% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (53%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (67%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Vandalism
Homes (43%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Zebulon compares with nearby cities
Zebulon has less crime than 4 of its 7 nearest cities.
Night lighting, density and walkability in Zebulon
Two things set Zebulon apart: it has 32% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 1% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and theft runs low here.
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.32% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 93% 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.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 92% 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.F (6 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 89% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.21 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 85% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.5 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 84% 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 Zebulon: F (2 of 100).under 1 trip an hourUS: noneLower than for 62% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Zebulon on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Zebulon
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Zebulon about $988 a year per household, 18% 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 $26 million a year, or $947 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.7 million
$60
Rape
$220,000
$8
Robbery
$230,000
$8
Assault
$3.1 million
$113
Burglary
$560,000
$20
Theft
$1.3 million
$48
Vehicle theft
$680,000
$25
Arson
$55,000
$2
Vandalism
$910,000
$33
Total
$8.8 million
$317
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 Zebulon 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 Zebulon, NC average a SchoolGrade of C+: 54% of students test proficient, against 43% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Zebulon on SchoolGrade
