Kingston is a city of 34,500 in Ulster County and the main city of the Kingston metro area, home to 182,600 · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Kingston?
Kingston earns an A for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 51% of Americans live. Assaults make up 89% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 855 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Kingston as a whole, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Kingston scores 855.
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 Kingston, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Kingston, 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 Kingston
Robbery stands out among cities graded A for violent crime. For the typical resident of a US city graded A for violent crime, the figure is 0.14 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; Kingston has 0.60.
Reported rapes run high, though violent crime runs low. Violent crime in Kingston runs 19% below the US rate, but reported rapes run 59% above it: 0.61 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Kingston
Every part of Kingston where people live grades A or B for violent crime on the national scale. Violent crime grades across Kingston run from A+ to B-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is violent crime going up in Kingston?
Reported violent crime in Kingston has risen 18% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.0 to 3.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 46%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
KingstonUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Kingston. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Kingston
Violent, US
2016
+10%
+4%
2017
+6%
+4%
2018
+2%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+19%
+4%
2021
+0%
+6%
2022
-13%
+5%
2023
-20%
+2%
2024
+18%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Kingston
CrimeGrade™ estimates Kingston has about 11 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 19% less than the US as a whole and 36% less than New York.
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 Kingston, about 89% 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.
Violent crime in Kingston and nearby cities
Kingston has more violent crime than 5 of its 6 nearest cities. Rhinebeck and Ulster Park have the least violent crime nearby.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Kingston apart: it has a Walk Grade of C- (29 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Even so, 63% of residents in Kingston live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more assault; here assault sits near the national middle.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Kingston: D- (8 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 assault.C- (29 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 79% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.58 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 74% 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.20% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 58% 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 Kingston
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Kingston about $30 million a year, or $873 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $7.1 million, or $204 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 77% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$46
Rape
$1.3 million
$37
Robbery
$650,000
$19
Assault
$3.6 million
$103
Total
$7.1 million
$204
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.
