Newport News is the fifth-largest city in Virginia, with 181,200 residents in Newport News City, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Virginia Beach · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Newport News?
Violent crime is high in Newport News: a C-, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 89% of Americans live. Assaults make up 95% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
C-
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 382 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
11% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Newport News as a whole, and 89% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Newport News scores 382.
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 Newport News, VA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Newport News, 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 Newport News
One part of Newport News stands out for murder. Murders in Downtown Newport News, Briarfield & Newmarket South, in southeast Newport News, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Aggravated assaults run high. Newport News has aggravated assaults at more than double the US rate: 6.1 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Newport News
Violent crime changes a lot from one part of Newport News to the next: 48% of residents live in areas graded A or B, while 35% live in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Newport News run from A+ to F.
48%17%35%
A or B 48%C 17%D or F 35%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Riverview & James Landing, westAggravated assaults run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Newport News.A865
2Saunders & Magruder, eastAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Newport News.B661
Neighborhood areas of Newport News, 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 Newport News?
Reported violent crime in Newport News has risen 24% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 6.0 to 7.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 16%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Newport NewsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Newport News. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Newport News
Violent, US
2016
-18%
+4%
2017
-14%
+4%
2018
-9%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
2021
+14%
+6%
2022
+4%
+5%
2023
+48%
+2%
2024
+24%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Newport News
CrimeGrade™ estimates Newport News has about 25 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 87% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for Virginia.
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 Newport News, about 95% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 42% of the cost of violent crime here.
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 Newport News
Newport News has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Newport News, 61% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 40% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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 Newport News and nearby cities
Newport News has the most violent crime of its 7 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Newport News. 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, Newport News has more violent crime than 96% of them.
Newport News looks like a typical city on the traits that tend to go with violent crime.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.54 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 68% 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 Newport News: D+ (18 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 68% 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. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 54% 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.26% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 64% 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 Newport News
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Newport News about $510 million a year, or $2,816 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $104 million, or $571 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 80% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$41 million
$225
Rape
$3.1 million
$17
Robbery
$4.9 million
$27
Assault
$55 million
$302
Total
$104 million
$571
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.
