Kotzebue is a city of 3,000 in Northwest Arctic Borough · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Kotzebue?
Violent crime is high in Kotzebue: a B-, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 84% of Americans live. Assaults make up 96% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 543 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
16% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Kotzebue as a whole, and 84% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Kotzebue scores 543.
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 Kotzebue, AK at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Kotzebue, 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
Violent crime rates and types in Kotzebue
CrimeGrade™ estimates Kotzebue has about 39 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about triple the rate for the US as a whole and about double the rate for Alaska.
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 Kotzebue, about 96% 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 Kotzebue
Kotzebue has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Kotzebue, 79% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Aggravated assault
Homes (79%)
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 Kotzebue and nearby cities
Kotzebue has the most violent crime of its 1 nearest cities.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets Kotzebue apart: it has a Walk Grade of C+ (44 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more assault, and it runs high here.
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+ (44 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 89% 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 Kotzebue: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.27% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 65% 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 Kotzebue
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Kotzebue about $6.9 million a year, or $2,299 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $1.7 million, or $581 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
$250,000
$83
Rape
$270,000
$89
Robbery
$16,000
$5
Assault
$1.2 million
$404
Total
$1.7 million
$581
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.
