Our analysis of public data
DC lock and key data, ward by ward
Most of DC rents, and most of DC lives behind a shared front door. That changes who you call when you are locked out and who is allowed to change a lock. The wards differ a lot: in Ward 2, 72% of homes are in buildings of 10 or more units, while in Ward 7, 32% are rowhouses. Car theft runs on its own timeline, with a spike in 2023 that has only partly come down.
Share of households that rent, by ward
What we found
- A renter's city. 58% of the District's 324,491 households rent. The share runs from 37% in Ward 4 to 78% in Ward 8. For a renter, the lock usually belongs to the landlord. Locked out as a renter.
- Big buildings and old rowhouses. 50% of homes are in buildings of 10 or more units and 22% are attached rowhouses. Only 11% are detached houses, with Ward 3 the exception at 25%. Locks on an old rowhouse.
- Old housing. The median home was built in 1958; in Ward 1 it is 1941. Original mortise locks and doors that have settled are ordinary service calls here.
- Lots of new keys. 36% of households moved in during 2020 or later, 49% in Ward 6. Every move leaves old keys behind with someone. Rekeying.
- Car theft jumped, then eased. MPD recorded 2,896 vehicle thefts in 2015, 6,789 in 2023 and 3,935 in 2025, down 42% from the peak. In 2025, Ward 5 had the most, 903. Car theft and car keys.
- Burglary is down sharply. 2,536 burglaries in 2015, 723 in 2025, a drop of 71%. That is about 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
- A third of households have no car. 36% of households own no vehicle, 52% in Ward 2. Car key calls cluster where people drive.
Motor vehicle thefts reported in DC, 2015 to 2025
Burglaries reported in DC, 2015 to 2025
Thefts from cars reported in DC, 2015 to 2025
Motor vehicle thefts by ward, 2025
All eight wards
Click a column to sort. Area names are our shorthand for the best-known neighborhoods in each ward.
| Ward | Area | Homes | Rent | In 10+ unit buildings | Rowhouses | Moved in 2020+ | No car | Median year built | Burglaries 2025 | Vehicle thefts 2025 | Thefts from cars 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward 1 | Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan | 44,986 | 64% | 63% | 17% | 44% | 44% | 1941 | 92 | 280 | 674 |
| Ward 2 | Georgetown and Dupont Circle | 50,947 | 61% | 72% | 13% | 46% | 52% | 1965 | 86 | 253 | 834 |
| Ward 3 | Upper Northwest | 43,008 | 49% | 58% | 9% | 34% | 24% | 1953 | 35 | 97 | 403 |
| Ward 4 | Petworth and Brightwood | 37,451 | 37% | 33% | 31% | 23% | 20% | 1943 | 62 | 455 | 744 |
| Ward 5 | Brookland and Bloomingdale | 44,838 | 54% | 36% | 28% | 34% | 29% | 1952 | 125 | 903 | 1,133 |
| Ward 6 | Capitol Hill and Navy Yard | 54,361 | 66% | 63% | 24% | 49% | 38% | 1986 | 83 | 658 | 683 |
| Ward 7 | Deanwood and Hillcrest | 41,307 | 55% | 24% | 32% | 24% | 33% | 1955 | 97 | 718 | 582 |
| Ward 8 | Anacostia and Congress Heights | 44,116 | 78% | 44% | 22% | 29% | 43% | 1969 | 143 | 571 | 310 |
Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates for DC's wards (tables B25001, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25038, B25044). Estimates carry margins of error. Crime counts are incidents reported to MPD, by the ward MPD recorded.
By year, all of DC
| Year | Burglaries | Vehicle thefts | Thefts from cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,536 | 2,896 | 11,274 |
| 2016 | 2,121 | 2,692 | 12,129 |
| 2017 | 1,530 | 2,407 | 10,256 |
| 2018 | 1,422 | 2,397 | 11,648 |
| 2019 | 1,274 | 2,189 | 10,744 |
| 2020 | 1,444 | 3,259 | 8,284 |
| 2021 | 1,173 | 3,481 | 8,660 |
| 2022 | 1,048 | 3,743 | 7,765 |
| 2023 | 1,093 | 6,789 | 7,745 |
| 2024 | 1,004 | 5,128 | 6,682 |
| 2025 | 723 | 3,935 | 5,363 |
Cite this
Four Quadrant Keys, "DC lock and key data by ward," https://fourquadrantkeys.com/dc-lock-and-key-data/, data as of October 28, 2026. Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024; DC Metropolitan Police Department crime incidents via DC Open Data.
You may reuse these charts and tables with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).