Crime by type
Charlotte Crime by Type
A look at the offense categories that shape Charlotte's numbers, from the high-volume property crimes to the rarer violent ones.
Overview
What drives crime in Charlotte
Property offenses make up the lion's share of Charlotte's reported crime, with theft leading the way and vehicle-related crime close behind. Violent categories are far less frequent and tend to gather along a handful of corridors, so the citywide rate rarely reflects the experience of any particular neighborhood.
By category
Rates and odds by crime type
Estimated annual rate per 100,000 residents and your everyday odds, with risk level relative to the U.S. average.
| Offense | Per 100k/yr | Annual odds | vs. U.S. | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theft / Larceny | 1,932 | 1 in 52 | +38% | Moderate |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 415 | 1 in 241 | +30% | Moderate |
| Burglary | 341 | 1 in 294 | +26% | Moderate |
| Aggravated Assault | 304 | 1 in 329 | +13% | Average |
| Robbery | 92 | 1 in 1,083 | +25% | Moderate |
| Rape | 36 | 1 in 2,785 | +7% | Average |
| Homicide | 6 | 1 in 16,011 | +25% | Moderate |
Drill down
What's actually reported in Charlotte
The most common specific offenses behind each category, from reported incident descriptions.
Theft 28,342 reports
Assault 14,076 reports
Arrest 9,402 reports
Retail Theft 6,210 reports
Drug Offense 5,035 reports
Vandalism 4,301 reports
Detail
Crime types in Charlotte, explained
Motor Vehicle Theft
Vehicle theft and break-ins are widespread, clustering around apartment complexes, retail lots, and the busier commercial corridors where cars sit unattended for long stretches.
Theft / Larceny
Theft is Charlotte's highest-volume offense, covering retail theft, package theft in growing subdivisions, and goods taken from vehicles across the metro.
Burglary
Home and business break-ins occur citywide but climb in transitional and older corridors more than in the newer master-planned communities to the south.
Aggravated Assault
Aggravated assaults concentrate in specific eastside and west-Charlotte corridors and around nightlife areas, rather than spreading evenly across the city.
Robbery
Robberies tend to follow commercial strips, transit stops, and busier corridors, and remain relatively uncommon in the quieter southern neighborhoods.
Homicide
Homicide is rare relative to Charlotte's overall crime volume and is concentrated in a limited number of corridors; the small counts mean year-to-year totals can move sharply without a broad shift.