Tempe is the ninth-largest city in Arizona, with 190,900 residents in Maricopa County, about 9 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix · Updated November 2026
How common is violent crime in Tempe?
Tempe earns a B+ for violent crime, with more violent crime than the neighborhoods where 69% of Americans live. Assaults make up 93% of it, and most of those are simple assaults, which involve no weapon and no serious injury.
B+
Violent crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 752 of 1,000More violent crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
31% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more violent crime than Tempe as a whole, and 69% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a violent crime safety score of 860, a CrimeGrade™ of A. Tempe scores 752.
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 Tempe, AZ at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Tempe, 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 Tempe
Aggravated assaults run high in Escalante, Alegre Community & Tempe Cascade. In this part of northeast Tempe, they run at about double the rate in the rest of Tempe.
Reported rapes run high. Tempe has reported rapes at about double the US rate: 0.73 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Where violent crime is lowest and highest in Tempe
Most of Tempe grades well for violent crime: 88% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 2% in areas graded D or F. Violent crime grades across Tempe run from A+ to D+.
88%10%
A or B 88%C 10%D or F 2%
Share of residents, by the violent crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Optimist Park Sw, Alta Mira & Optimist Park Nw, southeastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Tempe.A901
2Kiwanis Park, Bell de Mar Crossing & Raintree, southAggravated assaults run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Tempe.A864
3Tempe Royal Estates & Pepperwood, southwestAggravated assaults run about 30% lower here than in the rest of Tempe.A-827
4Meyer Park, Evergreen-Tempe & Shalimar, eastSimple assaults run about 20% lower here than in the rest of Tempe.A-786
7Downtown Tempe, Ntna-College & Jen Tilly Terrace, northSimple assaults run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Tempe.B+719
8Peterson, Hughes Acres & Cyprus Southwest, centralRobberies run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Tempe.B679
9Escalante, Alegre Community & Tempe Cascade, northeastRobberies run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Tempe.B-571
Neighborhood areas of Tempe, 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 Tempe?
Reported violent crime in Tempe peaked in 2020 and has fallen 20% since, back near its 2019 level. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.6 to 4.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7). Violent crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
TempeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Tempe. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Tempe
Violent, US
2016
+7%
+4%
2017
+5%
+4%
2018
+5%
+0%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+31%
+4%
2021
+28%
+6%
2022
+28%
+5%
2023
+10%
+2%
2024
+4%
-4%
Violent crime rates and types in Tempe
CrimeGrade™ estimates Tempe has about 22 reported violent crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 67% more than the US as a whole and 42% more than Arizona.
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 Tempe, about 93% 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 Tempe
Tempe has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Tempe, 35% of aggravated assaults happen at a home, against 53% nationally. Robberies happen most often at stores and businesses: 34% of them.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Robbery
Stores and businesses (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (35%)
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 Tempe and nearby cities
Tempe has more violent crime than 5 of its 9 nearest cities. Paradise Valley and Scottsdale have the least violent crime nearby.
Among the traits that tend to go with violent crime, two set Tempe apart: it has 133 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 17 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.133 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 Tempe: C- (32 of 100).17 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 90% 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. 52% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C (36 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 86% 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.43% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 78% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Tempe 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 Tempe
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, violent crime costs Tempe about $259 million a year, or $1,359 per resident. The costs that reach a bill, such as medical care, lost work and the justice system, come to about $66 million, or $347 per resident.
Billed cost of violent crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering are about 74% of that full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$11 million
$57
Rape
$8.4 million
$44
Robbery
$4.1 million
$22
Assault
$43 million
$225
Total
$66 million
$347
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
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.
