Crime When Searching for a Home to Rent/Buy

I feel that all buyers should have the ability to check for crime, and below provide some of the best sources I've found in the absence of what used to be the best source online by far, the Trulia crime map. I also go over compensating factors that reduce or increase crime within an area, the impact of crime on house values, & more.

What Happened to the Trulia Crime Map?

Crime is a tricky element in real estate, enough for Trulia, Redfin, & Realtor.com to do away with their crime maps due to concerns about fair housing. I suspect that not being competitive enough with Trulia's map could have played an influence for Redfin & Realtor.com & that Trulia subsequently succumbed to pressure following Redfin's & Realtor.com's stated reasons. Prior to this removal in early 2022, the crime map on Trulia was one of the top reasons to use Trulia. For me, it was the top reason to use it, since their crime map was better than the crime map on any other website by a significant margin. Out of the top 5 websites where people search for homes, between 2021 and 2024 (not considering variance in 2022 & 2023) monthly visitors dropped exclusively on Trulia, and not just dropped, but dropped by 37%, from 55.9 million monthly visitors to 35.28 million.

I. Initial Considerations:

The Legal Quirk with Asking "I Want to Only Consider Neighborhoods with Low Crime In My Search"

Often in a question about a house or when a buyer is looking to build a search with their agent, they can ask if high-crime areas can be excluded or if an area for a specific property is "OK" on crime.

While sometimes accusations are warranted by prejudiced agents, it's also very easy for agents to be accused of violating Fair Housing Law regarding "steering" if they share opinions on certain issues even if the agent is completely unaware of any prejudices that might influence their decision. According to the balance, "Steering is a practice in real estate where agents discriminate toward prospective buyers and only show properties based on the buyer's race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected factors.."

According to the same article from the Balance, "real estate agents may choose not to comment on specific aspects of a community or neighborhood, preferring to give you resources on things like school system scores and crime statistics rather than offering something that could be construed as an opinion. If you notice your agent providing you with resources or statistics rather than opinions, they are trying to be an unbiased resource for you—they're not withholding information."

I actually spent a few dozen hours copying the Trulia crime map into a large section of REIN MLS to achieve a higher accuracy crime map directly in MLS than any agent that I am aware of, but was told by the VA Realtor's legal hotline that they did not recommend that I use that map for any buyers due to potential liability.

Compensating Positive Factors to Reduce Crime

There are a number of possible factors that can make an overall high-crime area safer. Here are some examples:

1. High-security on-premises (i.e. multiple visible cameras combined with hidden cameras, walled property with motion-sensitive detection for going over the wall, doors with enhanced security from entry including by configuration & by enhanced design toward security, windows with alarms, generator for power loss, battery-powered security in the event of power loss, motion-sensitive lighting, etc.)

2. Gated community with private security

3. High security of neighbors, especially with cameras & lighting

Adverse Factors that Increase Crime

1. Proximity to high-traffic area

2. Proximity to low value/sq ft commercial zone

   • especially locations prone to higher crime or alcohol consumption like low-cost bars & strip clubs

3. Proximity to low value/sq ft residential zone (

• w/ certain exclusions, i.e. high condo fee senior communities)

1. Low volume or absence of street-lights

2. Low volume or absence of home/neighbors with cameras

• i.e. a motion-detecting wireless wifi-based camera w/ phone alerts w/ up to 3 days of footage w/ no subscription fees

Negative Impact of Crime on House Values

The higher the crime, the lower the house values. That can have positive and negative implications.

A. Some of the negative implications are obvious; no one likes getting robbed, assaulted, raped, murdered, or their property vandalized. Owners want their houses to appreciate.

B. On the positive side, it means that buyers and tenants can get a similar property for less money if they are willing and able to handle higher crime rates and the liabilities that come with it by imposing measures that would substantively reduce their liability for being victims of crime.

A 2010 study published in Regional Science and Urban Economics, titled “Panel Data Estimates of the Effects of Different Types of Crime on Housing Prices,” found that "robbery and aggravated assault crimes (per acre) exert a meaningful influence upon neighborhood housing values."

A 2012 case study of 8 American cities published by the Center for American Progress titled "The Economic Benefits of Reducing Violent Crime" found the following:

"Murders, rapes, assaults, and robberies impose concrete economic costs on the victims who survive as well as the families of those who lose their lives, in the loss of earnings and their physical and emotional tolls. Violent crimes also impose large costs on communities through lower property values, higher insurance premiums, and reduced investment in high-crime areas. In addition, violent crimes impose significant costs on taxpayers, who bear the financial burden of maintaining the police personnel and operations, courts, jails, and prisons directed toward these crimes and their perpetrators."

"On average, a reduction in a given year of one homicide in a zip code causes a 1.5 percent increase in housing values in that same zip code the following year."

I'm not an Attorney

Disclosure: Keep in mind that I am not an attorney and that an attorney is best consulted for opinions on the law.

Impact of Personal Preferences

When someone asks to only consider properties in low-crime areas, it's important to note that the definition of "low crime" is highly unique to the individual. I've had buyers purchase in large high-end gated communities. I've had other buyers tell me that no area of SE VA is higher crime than where they are from and that they were open to all areas in the cities/counties that they were considering based on proximity to their work.

II. Best Sources of Spotting Crime I've Found:

https://crimegrade.org/ is a solid resource with a color-coded map of areas based on crime.

That said, Crimegrade doesn't tell the whole story because of how large the tracts of land are. A single tract could have both a commercial area and a residential zone, for instance, where the commercial area has some crime, but the crime in the residential area is much smaller.

Image courtesy Crimegrade

Image courtesy Crimegrade

City-Data.com is a Solid Option for Color Coded Crime Maps

City-Data.com is similar to Crime Grade, but the further you zoom in or out, you can get additional data points based on state, city/county, zip code, and smaller tracts. If all zip codes or tracts are the same in an area, be sure to make a mental note (i.e. Isle of Wight County) that it's simply due to missing data, & head on over to Crimegrade for more details.

https://spotcrime.com/ is another solid resource, where you can see actual crimes and when they occurred relative to properties in most cities & counties.

I highly recommend not relying exclusively on a color-coded map that only shares a color-coded system based on large tracts of land, with Spotcrime being an excellent supplement to a color-coded map like Crimegrade for most cities & counties.

Some places won't show crime that exists on Spotcrime, including the following in SE VA:

Isle of Wight County

Poquoson

Would you want to know if a sex offender lived next door?

I certainly would. Perform a search here: https://www.nsopw.gov/

Asking Locals During the Day

You might be surprised at the kind of wealth of knowledge that you can sometimes acquire simply by being friendly while conducting showings or while going back to the neighborhoods. It's ideal to speak to those who share both positive and negative information about the neighborhood. If all they share are positive elements, they could be biased toward the seller or otherwise. In some cases, you might even make a friend that you will later know once you buy in the neighborhood. It's not unheard of to receive invitations from these folks in the event that you buy in the neighborhood.

Drive-Bys at Night

With drive-bys at night, it's best to go relatively slowly, i.e. slightly below the speed limit, to take in the views in the neighborhoods and surrounding areas like grocery stores. It's also best to have your doors locked & your windows slightly cracked so that you can hear better outside.

While occurring in <1% of cases, if you happen to have night vision, or if under an exclusive buyer brokerage agreement with Adam with an active proof of funds or preapproval you have sent Adam and showings performed & borrowing some night vision from Adam, it can add a new layer to things when in park as long as you are certain that you are cognizant of your immediate surroundings, such as by having one person with night vision and another person looking in the more immediate vicinity of the vehicle. Conversely, it's typically best not to shine a spotlight or flashlight on people or areas at night. Since night vision is unusual, keep in mind that someone could mistake you for a criminal casing a neighborhood. Be sure that you have identification etc. in the event that someone calls the police and law enforcement approaches your vehicle.

Ask Law Enforcement & Those Who Have Been in the Area Long Time

While your real estate agent is bound by fair housing law due to rampant past issues with real estate agents (particularly regarding racist steering), a typical person doesn't have their license on the line if they happen to tell you that a neighborhood is good or bad, safe or non-safe. Long-time area law enforcement (& even some local firefighters/medical personnel) is ideal because they'll have significantly more factual data to draw off of for more neighborhoods than a typical individual.

Look at the Values Nearby

Looking at a Zillow Zestimate map (specifically for rent Zestimates so that apartments are included) around a property can give you an idea about the values nearby. The lower the prices compared to a subject property that you're considering, the higher the probability of crime in the area.

Especially if Zillow doesn't show a value of apartments, another place to look is a public housing map, like this one.

III. Where to go for City/County/Area Crime Statistics:

Spreadsheet Comparing VA Cities/Counties for Crime (Ordered Alphabetically)

BestPlaces.Net For Easy Comparison of Crime in City/County v Larger Area & State

For instance, when looking to see crime levels in Isle of Wight County on BestPlaces, where crime isn't visible on Spot Crime, the following is helpful, though keep in mind that it's for Smithfield, not Isle of Wight County at large, & that typically crime is lower in more rural populations than in cities:

Spreadsheet Comparing VA Cities/Counties for Crime (Ordered by Crime Rate)

Per USA.com

Low crime index is good.

Rank	Crime Index ▲	City / Population
1	0	Courtland, VA / 1,819
2	12	Bowling Green, VA / 1,154
3	30	Clinchco, VA / 365
4	35	Fries, VA / 534
5	64	Bloxom, VA / 422
6	110	Occoquan, VA / 861
7	111	Rural Retreat, VA / 1,631
8	139	Broadway, VA / 3,748
9	159	Remington, VA / 499
10	190	Glasgow, VA / 1,258
11	240	Chatham, VA / 987
12	249	Warsaw, VA / 1,229
13	261	Glade Spring, VA / 1,792
14	286	Bridgewater, VA / 5,812
15	296	Grundy, VA / 1,063
16	322	White Stone, VA / 395
17	331	Timberville, VA / 2,557
18	355	Dayton, VA / 1,844
19	374	Haymarket, VA / 1,736
20	399	New Market, VA / 2,294
21	416	Lexington, VA / 7,114
22	447	Independence, VA / 1,259
23	456	Edinburg, VA / 1,282
24	463	Hurt, VA / 1,388
25	468	Honaker, VA / 1,626
26	489	Amherst, VA / 2,643
27	504	Boykins, VA / 680
28	513	Poquoson, VA / 12,103
29	529	Purcellville, VA / 8,350
30	534	Buena Vista, VA / 6,683
31	538	Vienna, VA / 16,173
32	542	Narrows, VA / 2,058
33	551	Cape Charles, VA / 926
34	577	Halifax, VA / 1,402
35	580	Middleburg, VA / 774
36	585	Grottoes, VA / 2,705
37	591	Elkton, VA / 2,770
38	612	West Point, VA / 3,319
39	625	Brookneal, VA / 1,157
40	643	Gordonsville, VA / 1,535
41	643	Haysi, VA / 408
42	672	Blacksburg, VA / 43,204
43	685	Mount Jackson, VA / 2,051
44	707	Chilhowie, VA / 1,865
45	732	Stanley, VA / 1,876
46	743	Quantico, VA / 446
47	757	La Crosse, VA / 733
48	759	Pembroke, VA / 1,298
49	760	Woodstock, VA / 5,164
50	796	Gretna, VA / 1,315
51	807	Pennington Gap, VA / 1,783
52	816	Manassas Park, VA / 14,992
53	816	Chincoteague, VA / 2,933
54	828	Cedar Bluff, VA / 1,172
55	834	Berryville, VA / 4,254
56	837	Leesburg, VA / 46,211
57	843	Herndon, VA / 24,141
58	844	Windsor, VA / 2,624
59	862	Weber City, VA / 1,473
60	862	Fairfax, VA / 23,507
61	872	Victoria, VA / 1,832
62	875	Strasburg, VA / 6,486
63	883	Waverly, VA / 1,534
64	883	Jonesville, VA / 1,303
65	884	Saint Paul, VA / 1,062
66	885	Onancock, VA / 1,226
67	903	Williamsburg, VA / 14,401
68	909	Clintwood, VA / 1,448
69	913	Clifton Forge, VA / 3,850
70	925	Pearisburg, VA / 2,750
71	957	Parksley, VA / 941
72	957	Falls Church, VA / 13,074
73	960	Dublin, VA / 2,625
74	980	Salem, VA / 25,120
75	981	Shenandoah, VA / 2,134
76	1,001	Clarksville, VA / 1,226
77	1,004	Smithfield, VA / 8,159
78	1,025	Kilmarnock, VA / 1,513
79	1,029	Stephens City, VA / 1,856
80	1,044	Alexandria, VA / 146,422
81	1,057	Gate City, VA / 2,348
82	1,060	Burkeville, VA / 341
83	1,063	Luray, VA / 4,864
84	1,076	Tazewell, VA / 4,568
85	1,079	Saltville, VA / 2,374
86	1,082	Warrenton, VA / 9,774
87	1,092	Staunton, VA / 24,132
88	1,097	Wytheville, VA / 8,193
89	1,111	Rich Creek, VA / 716
90	1,127	Colonial Beach, VA / 3,551
91	1,134	Dumfries, VA / 5,122
92	1,142	Middletown, VA / 1,362
93	1,148	Farmville, VA / 8,350
94	1,155	Pound, VA / 981
95	1,168	Wise, VA / 3,204
96	1,180	Louisa, VA / 2,254
97	1,227	Virginia Beach, VA / 445,623
98	1,230	Harrisonburg, VA / 50,821
99	1,236	Onley, VA / 502
100	1,267	Orange, VA / 4,808
101	1,285	Altavista, VA / 3,456
102	1,289	Covington, VA / 5,853
103	1,306	Kenbridge, VA / 1,310
104	1,318	Big Stone Gap, VA / 5,559
105	1,374	Christiansburg, VA / 21,427
106	1,395	Bluefield, VA / 5,375
107	1,402	Damascus, VA / 796
108	1,406	Chase City, VA / 2,228
109	1,424	Lebanon, VA / 3,399
110	1,438	Front Royal, VA / 14,709
111	1,449	Pocahontas, VA / 626
112	1,461	Crewe, VA / 2,875
113	1,463	Vinton, VA / 8,129
114	1,470	Hillsville, VA / 2,717
115	1,495	Abingdon, VA / 8,176
116	1,496	Exmore, VA / 1,595
117	1,516	Ashland, VA / 7,264
118	1,520	Culpeper, VA / 16,968
119	1,525	Manassas, VA / 40,436
120	1,526	Suffolk, VA / 85,477
121	1,535	Lawrenceville, VA / 1,404
122	1,539	Bedford, VA / 6,508
123	1,543	Rocky Mount, VA / 4,795
124	1,546	Waynesboro, VA / 21,177
125	1,586	Chesapeake, VA / 228,168
126	1,640	Hampton, VA / 136,904
127	1,641	Martinsville, VA / 13,745
128	1,651	Coeburn, VA / 2,309
129	1,680	Colonial Heights, VA / 17,542
130	1,681	Lynchburg, VA / 77,626
131	1,692	Glen Lyn, VA / 158
132	1,713	Blackstone, VA / 3,581
133	1,717	Radford, VA / 16,993
134	1,795	Marion, VA / 5,931
135	1,815	Bristol, VA / 17,595
136	1,893	Pulaski, VA / 8,993
137	1,915	Winchester, VA / 27,031
138	1,937	Galax, VA / 6,981
139	1,969	Appalachia, VA / 1,732
140	1,987	South Hill, VA / 4,603
141	2,044	Richlands, VA / 5,698
142	2,056	Fredericksburg, VA / 26,632
143	2,064	Norton, VA / 4,015
144	2,160	Newport News, VA / 181,362
145	2,221	Charlottesville, VA / 44,505
146	2,276	Franklin, VA / 8,534
147	2,364	Danville, VA / 42,704
148	2,407	South Boston, VA / 8,069
149	2,446	Hopewell, VA / 22,375
150	2,686	Tappahannock, VA / 2,161
151	2,724	Norfolk, VA / 244,745
152	2,738	Roanoke, VA / 97,949
153	2,886	Portsmouth, VA / 96,007
154	2,950	Richmond, VA / 211,063
155	3,020	Emporia, VA / 5,682
156	3,460	Petersburg, VA / 32,439

Related:

• Factors to Consider to Help Determine Where to Find Your New Home

• Factors Impacting Supply & Demand on Real Estate That Influence Prices

• Seemingly Harmless Questions With Major Consequences if Answered Directly

• House Buyer Guide

• What Adam Offers Buyers

• House Seller Guide

• What Adam Offers Sellers

• Pinkerton Crime Resources (often through a relatively high paywall, i.e. $350 for 1 city report as of 5/15/25, & no public pricing provided for the Pinkerton crime index, but excellent resources)