Bethesda, MD Crime Map

Bethesda, MD Safety Overview: What the Data Shows

With a population of 65,092 and an overall crime grade of B, Bethesda, Maryland stands out as one of the safer communities in the Washington D.C. metro area. What makes that grade particularly meaningful is the neighborhood-level picture underneath it: 100% of the analyzed neighborhoods earned an A grade, with zero neighborhoods scoring B, C, D, or F. That kind of consistency is rare, and it reflects a community where safety is the norm rather than the exception.

Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Breakdown

Among the neighborhoods analyzed, Brookmont leads the pack with a standout A+ grade and a median household income of $254,774 — the highest in the dataset. Its small population of 3,210 residents contributes to a tight-knit character where unusual activity is more readily noticed. The broader Bethesda neighborhood itself earns an A grade, covering a much larger population of 69,366 with a median income of $189,325. Even the areas flagged as relatively higher in crime — Bethesda and Brookmont — still hold A-level grades, which underscores just how uniformly safe this city is across its geography.

What the Grade Distribution Tells You

Every single analyzed neighborhood in Bethesda earned an A, meaning 100% of the city falls into the safest tier. No neighborhood scored below an A. For context, this is exceptional — most cities of comparable size show meaningful variation, with some neighborhoods pulling down the average. In Bethesda, the floor is already very high. The city-wide safety rating is officially classified as Very Safe, a designation that aligns with its low poverty rate of 3.6% and an unemployment rate of 3.4%, both of which are well below national averages and tend to correlate with reduced crime pressure.

Property Crime vs. Violent Crime in Bethesda

Bethesda's safety profile is shaped by the relative scarcity of both property and violent crime, though the two categories behave differently across the city. Property-related incidents — including vehicle break-ins and opportunistic theft — represent the more common category of concern in higher-traffic commercial corridors. Violent crime, by contrast, is notably low across all analyzed neighborhoods, including in the broader Bethesda area where population density reaches 1,895 residents per square mile. The combination of high median household income ($172,873) and strong economic stability appears to suppress the conditions that typically drive violent crime upward in denser communities.

How the Crime Map Supports Smarter Decisions

Bethesda attracts a steady stream of home buyers, renters, and daily commuters from across Montgomery County and the D.C. metro corridor, and the interactive crime map on this page is built to serve all of them. A prospective buyer evaluating a home priced near the city's median of $927,933 can cross-reference neighborhood grades before committing. Renters comparing options — the median rent sits at $2,075 — can use the map to assess whether a lower-priced unit in one part of the city reflects a trade-off in safety or simply a difference in housing stock. Commuters who pass through Bethesda regularly can identify the quieter residential corridors versus busier zones. The map translates raw crime data into grades and visual patterns that are immediately actionable, without requiring any background in data analysis.

The Bottom Line on Bethesda Safety

Bethesda's data paints a clear picture: this is a city where safety is broadly distributed, not concentrated in a few privileged pockets. Whether you are drawn to the smaller scale of Brookmont or the larger community of Bethesda proper, the crime grades tell a consistent story. That consistency, backed by strong economic indicators and low poverty, gives residents and newcomers alike a solid foundation for confidence in their daily lives here.