The Syracuse metro area, the 89th-largest in the US, is home to 656,400 residents; Syracuse itself is the fifth-largest city in New York · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in the Syracuse area?
Violent crime in the Syracuse area sits near the national middle: an A, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 50% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury. The city of Syracuse itself grades C+ 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 Syracuse 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 Syracuse 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 Syracuse, NY at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Syracuse 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 Syracuse area
Robberies run high in North Valley, Brighton & South Valley. In this part of south Syracuse, they run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Syracuse.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in the Syracuse area
Low violent crime is the norm across the Syracuse area: 86% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 10% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across the Syracuse area run from A+ to F.
86%10%
A or B 86%C 4%D or F 10%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Syracuse
1University-Syracuse, Outer Comstock & Skytop, southeastAggravated assaults run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Syracuse.A-825
2Eastwood, northeastAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Syracuse.B+714
3Strathmore, Skunk City & Elmwood, southwestAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Syracuse.B669
Neighborhood areas of the city of Syracuse, 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 Syracuse 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.
Is violent crime going up in the Syracuse area?
Reported violent crime in the Syracuse area has fallen 10% since 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.8 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 14%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Syracuse areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the Syracuse area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Syracuse area
Violent, US
2016
-1%
+4%
2017
-4%
+4%
2018
-6%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
2021
-5%
+6%
2022
+15%
+5%
2023
+4%
+2%
2024
-10%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in the Syracuse area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Syracuse area has about 10 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 24% less than the US as a whole and 41% 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 the Syracuse area, about 93% of the total. Murder and rape are far rarer, but they account for 43% 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 Syracuse area and nearby metro areas
The Syracuse area has more violent crime than 6 of its 10 nearest metro areas. The Poughkeepsie area and the Allentown area have the least violent crime nearby.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Syracuse 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 Syracuse area is safer than 69% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, one sets the Syracuse area apart: it has 10 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Places like that tend to report more robbery, and it runs high here.
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 Syracuse area: D (14 of 100).10 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 81% 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.16% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 64% 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 Syracuse area
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs the Syracuse area about $647 million a year, or $985 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $139 million, or $211 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
$49 million
$74
Rape
$11 million
$16
Robbery
$8.2 million
$13
Assault
$71 million
$108
Total
$139 million
$211
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 Syracuse 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
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.
