Crime & Safety in Hickory
Two independent sources -- CrimeGrade and NeighborhoodScout -- agree that Hickory's crime rate runs modestly above both North Carolina's and the national average, even though their exact per-1,000 figures differ. This is a smaller, more typical spread than the sharp same-direction-versus-opposite-direction disagreements seen on some other markets in this dataset.
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Learn moreCrimeGrade's read
CrimeGrade.org cites an overall crime rate of 39.07 incidents per 1,000 residents (an overall grade of C-), with violent crime specifically at 4 per 1,000 residents (roughly a 1-in-248 annual chance of violent victimization) and property crime more prevalent, at roughly 2,529 per 100,000 versus 404 per 100,000 for violent crime.
NeighborhoodScout's read: a somewhat lower rate, same direction
NeighborhoodScout instead cites an overall crime rate of 32 per 1,000 residents, still describing Hickory's crime rate as running 12.89% above the North Carolina state average and 7.12% above the national average, with more than 84% of North Carolina communities rated safer than Hickory by its methodology.
Both sources agree in direction, even though the exact scale differs
Unlike some markets in this dataset where crime-data aggregators disagree sharply on DIRECTION (one reading safer-than-average, another reading much-more-dangerous-than-average), CrimeGrade and NeighborhoodScout agree here that Hickory runs modestly above both state and national averages -- they differ on the precise magnitude (39.07 vs. 32 per 1,000) rather than the basic conclusion.
Check a specific address directly, and expect real block-level variance
As with any city, block-level and neighborhood-level variance is real. Per site policy, no specific lower-rated area is named here -- residents are generally cited as considering the southwest part of Hickory the safest, with the northeast part seeing more incidents (about 460 per year by one source). Check a specific address directly with both CrimeGrade.org and NeighborhoodScout before drawing conclusions about a particular neighborhood.
Key takeaways
- CrimeGrade.org cites an overall crime rate of 39.07 per 1,000 residents (grade C-), with violent crime at 4 per 1,000 and property crime more prevalent than violent crime.
- NeighborhoodScout cites a lower overall rate of 32 per 1,000, still describing Hickory as running 12.89% above the NC average and 7.12% above the national average.
- Both sources agree in DIRECTION (Hickory runs modestly above state/national averages) even though their exact per-1,000 figures differ -- a smaller, more typical spread than the sharpest cross-source disagreements seen elsewhere in this dataset.
- No specific area is named as unsafe here per site policy; residents generally consider the southwest part of Hickory safest. Check a specific address directly with both sources before drawing conclusions.
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