Safety index · Ballard, Seattle · data through August 2026
Is Ballard safe?
Ballard records more reported crime than most Seattle neighborhoods. Its SafeRoute safety index is 30 out of 100 — 24 points below the citywide median of 54, ranking 78th of 94 Seattle neighborhoods — based on 908 incidents reported to the SPD within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to August 2026.
DATA THROUGH AUGUST 2026 · 8 MONTHS OF DATA
The 0–100 scale is calibrated to Seattle — a typical Seattle neighborhood sits near 54. It ranks Ballard against other neighborhoods here, and cannot be read against a score in another city.
Most of what's reported here is property-related — burglary alone is 19% of reports — rather than violence against strangers, though the full mix below is worth a look.
Timing matters here: about 30% of severity-weighted incidents are reported overnight (midnight–6 a.m.), so route choice late at night matters more than the headline number suggests.
Where incidents cluster
What's reported here
| Burglary | 168 · 19% | |
| Vehicle crime | 243 · 27% | |
| Criminal damage & arson | 108 · 12% | |
| Other theft | 171 · 19% | |
| Violent crime | 60 · 7% | |
| Robbery | 28 · 3% |
When it happens
Severity-weighted share of reported incidents by time of day, from police incident timestamps.
Walking in Ballard at night?
SafeRoute scores every walking route against the same live crime data on this page — and shows how much of each route runs on lit streets. Pick the safer way, share your walk, and check in when you arrive. Free, no account.
Get SafeRoute on the App StoreNearby areas
- West Woodland30/100 · Elevated
- Loyal Heights60/100 · Moderate
- Sunset Hill75/100 · Low risk
- Whittier Heights49/100 · Elevated
- Lawton Park79/100 · Low risk
Common questions
Is Ballard safe at night?
Elevated overall (safety index 30/100). About 60% of severity-weighted incidents in Ballard are reported between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. At night, prefer lit, busier streets — a block or two of detour often avoids the clusters on the map above.
What is the most common crime in Ballard?
Burglary — 168 of 908 incidents (19%) reported within 1 km of the neighborhood center over the 8 months to August 2026.
How is the Ballard safety index calculated?
SafeRoute weights each incident reported to the Seattle Police Department by severity (violence weighs more than shoplifting), sums the last available period within 1 km of the neighborhood center, and normalizes against citywide crime rates onto a 0–100 scale — higher is safer. It describes reported crime only; it is not a guarantee of safety. The scale is calibrated within Seattle, so scores compare neighborhoods to each other and cannot be read against another city's.