The Pittsburgh metro area, the 26th-largest in the US, is home to 2.44 million residents; Pittsburgh itself is the second-largest city in Pennsylvania · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in the Pittsburgh area?
The Pittsburgh area earns an A for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Assaults make up 92% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. The city of Pittsburgh itself grades B for violent crime.
A
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 858 of 1,000About as much violent crime as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
50% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than the Pittsburgh area as a whole, and 50% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. The Pittsburgh area scores 858.
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 Pittsburgh, PA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Pittsburgh area, 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 the Pittsburgh area
Robberies run high in whitehall, Carrick & Southside Flats. In this part of south Pittsburgh, they run at about double the rate in the rest of Pittsburgh.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in the Pittsburgh area
Most of the Pittsburgh area grades well for violent crime: 89% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 7% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across the Pittsburgh area run from A+ to F.
89%
A or B 89%C 4%D or F 7%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Pittsburgh
1Brookline, Beechview & Mission Hills, southwestAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Pittsburgh.A866
2Central Lawrenceville, Lower Lawrenceville & Spring Hill-City View, northRobberies run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Pittsburgh.B+742
8Whitehall, Carrick & Southside Flats, southAggravated assaults run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Pittsburgh.C+512
9Sheraden, Crafton Heights & Elliott, westAggravated assaults run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Pittsburgh.C+472
Neighborhood areas of the city of Pittsburgh, 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.
Cities and towns in the Pittsburgh metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by violent crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Violent crime rates and types in the Pittsburgh area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Pittsburgh area has about 8.0 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 41% less than the US as a whole and close to Pennsylvania.
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 the Pittsburgh area, about 92% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 51% 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.
Violent crime in the Pittsburgh area and nearby metro areas
The Pittsburgh area has less violent crime than 9 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Rochester area has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Pittsburgh area. Beside each violent crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Pittsburgh area is safer than 99% of them.
The Pittsburgh area looks like a typical metro area on the traits that tend to go with violent crime.
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Pittsburgh area: D- (12 of 100).7 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% of Americans in metro areas
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.17% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 62% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Pittsburgh area
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs the Pittsburgh area about $2.45 billion 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 $485 million, or $199 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
$211 million
$86
Rape
$39 million
$16
Robbery
$26 million
$11
Assault
$210 million
$86
Total
$485 million
$199
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. These figures cover the whole Pittsburgh metro area. 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.
