Minnesota: The Best and Worst Cities for Crime

Statewide Crime Trends in Minnesota

Minnesota is a mixed bag when compared to other states, though it’s not among the national leaders in either property crimes or violent crimes. Minnesota’s property crime rate is just one point higher than the overall U.S. rate, and its violent crime rate is 26 points lower than the national rate.

Minnesota ranks fourth in the Midwest for its overall property crime rate and is second behind Illinois for its robbery rate. However, it also has the second-lowest overall violent crime rate in the region — only neighboring North Dakota has a lower violent crime rate in the Midwest.

Property Crime in Minnesota

When determining property crime rates throughout Minnesota, we looked at larceny-theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft incidents.

• The property crime rate in Minnesota is 1,967 per 100,000 people, which is nearly identical to the overall U.S. rate of 1,954 per 100,000.
• Minnesota ranks 19th among all states for its property crime rate but has the fourth-highest rate in the Midwest.
• Larceny continues to be the most common property crime in Minnesota, as it is everywhere else in the country, with about 1,465 incidents per 100,000 people:

Violent Crime in Minnesota

Violent crimes include murder/non-negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery, and these types of incidents are much less common than property crimes.

• The overall violent crime rate in Minnesota is 281 per 100,000 people, which is more than 25 percent lower than the overall U.S. rate of 381 per 100,000.
• Minnesota ranks 33rd among all 50 states and boasts the second-lowest violent crime rate in the Midwest.
• While violent crimes are less common in Minnesota than in most other states, it does have the second-highest burglary rate in the Midwest, behind only Illinois.

Our Data

Our data comes from comprehensive reporting compiled by the FBI and accessed via the Crime Data Explorer website. Property and violent crime state figures were drawn from Table 5 of the 2022 Crime in the U.S. Report. Metropolitan figures were found in Table 6, Crime in the U.S. by Metropolitan Statistical Area. City-level figures were drawn from Table 8, Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City. The population figures in that table are U.S. Census Bureau provisional estimates as of July 1, 2020.

Limitations: According to the FBI, the data in the publication tables may differ from those released on the Explorer Pages of the CDE. These variations are due to the difference in methodologies between the publication tables and data displayed on the CDE. Please note that crime statistics are not the sole measure of a city’s safety.