Des Moines is a city of 32,200 in King County, about 15 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Des Moines?
Des Moines grades B for violent crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 75% of Americans live. Assaults make up 90% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 686 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
25% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Des Moines as a whole, and 75% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Des Moines scores 686.
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 Des Moines, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Des Moines, 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
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Des Moines
Most of Des Moines grades well for violent crime: 82% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Violent crime grades across Des Moines run from A- to C-.
82%18%
A or B 82%C 18%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is violent crime going up in Des Moines?
Reported violent crime in Des Moines peaked in 2021 and has fallen 21% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.7 to 2.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Des MoinesUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Des Moines. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Des Moines
Violent, US
2016
+41%
+4%
2017
+50%
+4%
2018
+29%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+28%
+4%
2021
+35%
+6%
2022
+17%
+5%
2023
+15%
+2%
2024
+6%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Des Moines
CrimeGrade™ estimates Des Moines has about 14 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 24% more than Washington.
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 Des Moines, about 90% 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 Des Moines
Des Moines has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Des Moines, 43% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 42% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (43%)
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 Des Moines and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Des Moines, 7 have less violent crime. Vashon and Normandy Park have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Des Moines. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Des Moines has more violent crime than 85% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Des Moines apart: it has 26 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 20 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Des Moines: C- (27 of 100).26 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 93% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.20 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 87% 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. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 56% 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.25% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 63% 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 violent crime costs Des Moines
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Des Moines about $32 million a year, or $1,005 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $8.0 million, or $249 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 75% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.2 million
$69
Rape
$610,000
$19
Robbery
$1.1 million
$34
Assault
$4.1 million
$126
Total
$8.0 million
$249
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
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.
