SeaTac is a city of 34,200 in King County, about 11 miles south of downtown Seattle · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in SeaTac?
SeaTac earns a B+ for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 68% of Americans live. Assaults make up 85% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 756 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than SeaTac as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. SeaTac scores 756.
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 SeaTac, WA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in SeaTac, 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 SeaTac
Aggravated assault is a strength. SeaTac grades B+ for violent crime, but aggravated assault grades A, better than in the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in SeaTac
Most of SeaTac grades well for violent crime: 83% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 3% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across SeaTac run from A to D+.
83%14%
A or B 83%C 14%D or F 3%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is violent crime going up in SeaTac?
Reported violent crime in SeaTac has fallen 15% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.5 to 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
SeaTacUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves SeaTac. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, SeaTac
Violent, US
2016
+14%
+4%
2017
+1%
+4%
2018
+11%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
2021
+12%
+6%
2022
+34%
+5%
2023
-14%
+2%
2024
-15%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in SeaTac
CrimeGrade™ estimates SeaTac has about 13 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, about the same as the US as a whole and 17% 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 SeaTac, about 85% 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 SeaTac
SeaTac has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In SeaTac, 45% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 47% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (47%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (45%)
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 SeaTac and nearby cities
SeaTac has less violent crime than 8 of its 10 nearest cities; only Normandy Park and East Hill-Meridian have less.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set SeaTac apart: it has 129 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 41 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places with both tend to report more robbery than places with only one of them, and it runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more robbery.129 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 98% 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 SeaTac: C- (32 of 100).41 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 96% 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 52% 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.42% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of SeaTac on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 SeaTac
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs SeaTac about $55 million a year, or $1,610 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $11 million, or $332 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 79% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.4 million
$129
Rape
$1.6 million
$46
Robbery
$1.2 million
$36
Assault
$4.1 million
$121
Total
$11 million
$332
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.
