Boulder is a city of 115,800 in Boulder County and the main city of the Boulder metro area, home to 329,000 · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Boulder?
Violent crime in Boulder is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Assaults make up 92% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 895 of 1,000Less violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
61% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Boulder as a whole, and 39% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Boulder scores 895.
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 violent crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its violent crime with the people who spend time there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy downtown or nightlife strip can show red while the homes around it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a solid connection. Compare high speed internet in Boulder, CO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Boulder, 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 about violent crime in Boulder
One part of Boulder stands out for robbery. Robberies in Central Boulder & Washington Village, in west Boulder, run at more than double the rate in the rest of the city.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Boulder
Every part of Boulder where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Boulder run from A+ to B+.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1North Boulder, northwestAggravated assaults run at about half the rate in the rest of Boulder.A+943
2Southeast Boulder, southeastAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Boulder.A921
3South Boulder, southSimple assaults run at about half the rate in the rest of Boulder.A917
4East Boulder, northeastSimple assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Boulder.A915
5Crossroads & Palo Park, northClose to the rest of Boulder on most crimes.A880
7Colorado University, centralAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Boulder.A-836
Neighborhood areas of Boulder, ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is violent crime going up in Boulder?
Reported violent crime in Boulder has risen 21% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.6 to 3.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
BoulderUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Boulder. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Boulder
Violent, US
2016
-8%
+4%
2017
+1%
+4%
2018
+2%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+22%
+4%
2021
+54%
+6%
2022
+62%
+5%
2023
+33%
+2%
2024
+21%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Boulder
CrimeGrade™ estimates Boulder has about 9.1 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 32% less than the US as a whole and 25% less than Colorado.
All violent crime
Assaults
Robbery
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here includes simple assaults, which the FBI's violent crime rate leaves out.
Assault is the most common violent crime in Boulder, about 92% of the total.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a violent crime with the people who spend time in an area, not only the people who live there. 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 violent crime happens in Boulder
Boulder has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Boulder, 30% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 45% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (45%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (30%)
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.
Violent crime in Boulder and nearby cities
Of the 5 cities closest to Boulder, 4 have less violent crime. Coal Creek and Gunbarrel have the least.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Boulder apart: it has 80 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 21 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them; here robbery sits near the national middle.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.80 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher 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 robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Boulder: C (35 of 100).21 trips an hourUS: noneHigher 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 assault. 56% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (34 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% of US city residents
Show all 4
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.43% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 79% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Boulder 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 violent crime costs Boulder
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Boulder about $74 million a year, or $640 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $18 million, or $156 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 76% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$15
Rape
$2.2 million
$19
Robbery
$1.4 million
$12
Assault
$13 million
$109
Total
$18 million
$156
How CrimeGrade™ works
The violent crime CrimeGrade™ covers murder, rape, robbery and assault, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each violent crime against the people who spend time in an area, so a busy downtown is graded on its workers and visitors as well as its residents.
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
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.
