Aberdeen, MD Crime Map

Aberdeen, MD Safety Overview: What the Data Actually Shows

Aberdeen, Maryland — a Harford County city of 15,904 residents — carries an overall crime grade of D+, a figure that might raise eyebrows until you look beneath the surface. When the city's 8 analyzed neighborhoods are examined individually, a strikingly different picture emerges: 75% of those neighborhoods earned an A grade, and none scored below a C-. The city-wide safety rating, weighted across those neighborhoods, lands at a B — a meaningful distinction from the overall grade, which reflects broader municipal factors. Understanding this gap is exactly why neighborhood-level data matters.

Where Aberdeen Is Safest

The strongest safety records belong to a cluster of neighborhoods where incomes consistently outpace the city median of $66,481. Aldino-Stepney and Gilbert both earned A grades with median household incomes near $92,700, while Long / Heat — a smaller community of just 141 residents — also holds an A with a median income of $92,462. Grays (Grade A, income $86,812) and Stepney (Grade A, income $84,473) round out the upper tier, and Paradise earned an A as well, with a median income of $78,587. These neighborhoods collectively demonstrate that Aberdeen's safest pockets are concentrated in areas with greater economic stability.

Higher-Crime Areas and the Income Correlation

At the other end of the spectrum, Bush Chapel and Pulaski each received a C- grade. Bush Chapel is by far the most populous neighborhood in this analysis, home to 1,537 residents, and its median household income of $57,741 sits noticeably below the incomes seen in the A-rated areas. Pulaski, with a population of 361 and a median income of just $40,015 — roughly 60% of the city median — shows the most pronounced income gap among all analyzed neighborhoods. Neither area grades at D or F, but the C- designation signals that residents and prospective home buyers should weigh those conditions carefully.

Grade Distribution Across All Neighborhoods

Of the 8 neighborhoods analyzed, 6 (75%) earned an A grade and 2 (25%) scored at the C level. No neighborhood received a B, D, or F. That clustering at the extremes — mostly A grades with two C- outliers — suggests Aberdeen's safety landscape is less a gradual spectrum and more a tale of two distinct tiers. The 14.9% poverty rate and 3% unemployment rate at the city level provide context: economic pressure is present but not pervasive, and it appears concentrated in specific geographic pockets rather than spread evenly across the city.

Property Crime vs. Violent Crime Patterns

In a city with Aberdeen's density of 931 residents per square mile and a median home value of $196,415, property crime tends to be the more statistically significant concern. Theft and vehicle-related offenses typically account for a larger share of reported incidents in mid-sized Maryland cities at this income level. Violent crime exists but is comparatively limited across most of Aberdeen's neighborhoods, particularly in the six A-rated areas. The C- neighborhoods, especially Bush Chapel given its larger population base, carry a higher likelihood of both property and violent incidents relative to the rest of the city — though neither rises to the level of a D or F grade.

How the Crime Map Helps You Make Better Decisions

Aberdeen sits along major commuter corridors, and many residents travel to Aberdeen Proving Ground or commute toward Baltimore. For those residents, the interactive crime map offers a fast way to assess conditions along specific routes and near transit areas. Renters evaluating the city's median rent of $1,062 can cross-reference neighborhood grades before signing a lease, while home buyers weighing the $196,415 median home value can identify whether a specific block falls within an A-rated area like Aldino-Stepney or closer to the C- boundaries of Bush Chapel. The map turns raw data into a practical decision-making tool — one that reflects the real, neighborhood-by-neighborhood variation that a single city-wide grade simply cannot capture.