The crime situation in Michigan is one of contrasts: the state has 1 of the top 15 highest violent crime rates in the U.S., yet its property crime rate is well below the national level. Meanwhile, the state is home to some of the highest crime areas in the country (Flint, parts of Detroit), as well as communities where crime is exceedingly scarce. Today, let’s put the focus on the safest cities in the Great Lake State.
Grosse Ile Township is the safest community in Michigan. The municipality comprises several islands within the Detroit River and was named by French explorers who visited the area in the 17th century. In 2018, Gross Ile posted some of the lowest crime figures in the country: a 0.30 per 1,000 violent crime rate, and a 3.36 per 1,000 property crime rate.
Michigan’s 2nd safest community is Rochester, a city of 13K north of Detroit. With just 8 reported violent crimes and property crime 6 times below the national rate in 2018, Rochester earns its place in the upper echelon of safe cities in America.
#3 South Lyon is not far behind: the Oakland County city recorded a property crime rate similar to the two prior entries on the list, albeit with a marginally higher violent crime rate of about 1 offense per 1,000.
Beverly Hills, another Oakland County suburb, is Michigan’s 4th safest municipality. The largest village in the state is also one of those with the least amount of crime, logging just 5 violent crimes and 57 property crimes in 2018.
Hamburg Township, the most populated municipality in Livingston County, earns Michigan’s #5 spot. The village recorded the lowest total crime rate in all of Michigan, and is kept out of the top position only due to a low law enforcement-to-residents ratio of 0.82 per 1,000.
Michigan’s Safest Cities
MI City Population Violent
crimeProperty
crimeLaw enforcement
employeesTotal crimes Crime rate per 1,000 Violent crimes per 1,000 Property crimes per 1,000 Law enforcement per 1,000
1 Grosse Ile Township 10128 3 34 24 37 3.65 0.30 3.36 2.37
2 Rochester 13075 8 48 30 56 4.28 0.61 3.67 2.29
3 South Lyon 11803 12 40 17 52 4.41 1.02 3.39 1.44
4 Beverly Hills 10450 5 57 26 62 5.93 0.48 5.45 2.49
5 Hamburg Township 22024 10 67 18 77 3.50 0.45 3.04 0.82
6 Berkley 15382 5 87 34 92 5.98 0.33 5.66 2.21
7 Milford 16808 10 67 20 77 4.58 0.59 3.99 1.19
8 New Baltimore 12423 8 57 18 65 5.23 0.64 4.59 1.45
9 Birmingham 21295 10 137 42 147 6.90 0.47 6.43 1.97
10 Trenton 18176 22 104 35 126 6.93 1.21 5.72 1.93
11 Farmington 10605 20 58 23 78 7.36 1.89 5.47 2.17
12 West Bloomfield Township 65928 38 386 103 424 6.43 0.58 5.85 1.56
13 Flushing Township 10179 5 45 9 50 4.91 0.49 4.42 0.88
14 Clawson 11962 12 69 18 81 6.77 1.00 5.77 1.50
15 Plymouth Township 27032 24 165 42 189 6.99 0.89 6.10 1.55
16 Bloomfield Township 42199 21 327 89 348 8.25 0.50 7.75 2.11
17 East Grand Rapids 11886 6 122 30 128 10.77 0.50 10.26 2.52
18 Farmington Hills 81239 69 681 140 750 9.23 0.85 8.38 1.72
19 Royal Oak 59383 56 481 93 537 9.04 0.94 8.10 1.57
20 Big Rapids 10369 24 86 21 110 10.61 2.31 8.29 2.03
21 Shelby Township 79878 119 500 86 619 7.75 1.49 6.26 1.08
22 Huron Township 15930 34 120 26 154 9.67 2.13 7.53 1.63
23 Novi 60378 43 532 94 575 9.52 0.71 8.81 1.56
24 Riverview 12058 14 116 22 130 10.78 1.16 9.62 1.82
25 Thomas Township 11488 8 68 8 76 6.62 0.70 5.92 0.70
26 Marquette 20529 23 204 38 227 11.06 1.12 9.94 1.85
27 Grosse Pointe Park 11069 0 175 38 175 15.81 0.00 15.81 3.43
28 Green Oak Township 18874 25 140 19 165 8.74 1.32 7.42 1.01
29 Midland 41961 55 354 50 409 9.75 1.31 8.44 1.19
30 DeWitt Township 15194 18 127 17 145 9.54 1.18 8.36 1.12
31 Bath Township 12984 14 106 13 120 9.24 1.08 8.16 1.00
32 Northville Township 28939 21 302 42 323 11.16 0.73 10.44 1.45
33 Grand Haven 10984 21 173 36 194 17.66 1.91 15.75 3.28
34 St. Clair Shores 59618 132 591 88 723 12.13 2.21 9.91 1.48
35 Grosse Pointe Woods 15497 13 225 36 238 15.36 0.84 14.52 2.32
36 Brownstown Township 31912 78 281 39 359 11.25 2.44 8.81 1.22
37 Davison Township 19177 40 171 21 211 11.00 2.09 8.92 1.10
38 Sterling Heights 133055 240 1334 168 1574 11.83 1.80 10.03 1.26
39 Troy 84221 52 1157 152 1209 14.36 0.62 13.74 1.80
40 Canton Township 92055 134 986 119 1120 12.17 1.46 10.71 1.29
41 Fraser 14626 23 198 28 221 15.11 1.57 13.54 1.91
42 Livonia 93740 138 1313 167 1451 15.48 1.47 14.01 1.78
43 Garden City 26520 105 241 33 346 13.05 3.96 9.09 1.24
44 Ferndale 20095 39 341 51 380 18.91 1.94 16.97 2.54
45 Grand Blanc Township 36489 49 448 47 497 13.62 1.34 12.28 1.29
46 Madison Heights 30100 89 435 62 524 17.41 2.96 14.45 2.06
47 Ionia 11170 48 120 17 168 15.04 4.30 10.74 1.52
48 Waterford Township 73066 146 750 70 896 12.26 2.00 10.26 0.96
49 Oak Park 29688 83 455 60 538 18.12 2.80 15.33 2.02
50 Chesterfield Township 45686 59 630 58 689 15.08 1.29 13.79 1.27
51 Mount Pleasant 25828 76 323 34 399 15.45 2.94 12.51 1.32
52 Hazel Park 16501 53 284 37 337 20.42 3.21 17.21 2.24
53 Lincoln Township 14585 12 177 13 189 12.96 0.82 12.14 0.89
54 Metro Police Authority of Genesee County 19887 42 268 25 310 15.59 2.11 13.48 1.26
55 Sault Ste. Marie 13557 30 225 24 255 18.81 2.21 16.60 1.77
56 Traverse City 15630 74 253 31 327 20.92 4.73 16.19 1.98
57 Dearborn 94022 314 1871 224 2185 23.24 3.34 19.90 2.38
58 Owosso 14455 76 169 17 245 16.95 5.26 11.69 1.18
59 Dearborn Heights 55495 243 911 95 1154 20.79 4.38 16.42 1.71
60 Fenton 11225 17 207 17 224 19.96 1.51 18.44 1.51
61 Pittsfield Township 39314 76 582 42 658 16.74 1.93 14.80 1.07
62 Van Buren Township 28210 86 540 52 626 22.19 3.05 19.14 1.84
63 Allen Park 27020 68 500 44 568 21.02 2.52 18.50 1.63
64 Ann Arbor 122571 270 1932 145 2202 17.97 2.20 15.76 1.18
65 Monroe 19754 114 383 45 497 25.16 5.77 19.39 2.28
66 Escanaba 12169 41 337 41 378 31.06 3.37 27.69 3.37
67 Clinton Township 101279 322 1422 101 1744 17.22 3.18 14.04 1.00
68 Southfield 73418 204 1509 133 1713 23.33 2.78 20.55 1.81
69 Auburn Hills 23579 94 530 54 624 26.46 3.99 22.48 2.29
70 Walker 25010 63 522 40 585 23.39 2.52 20.87 1.60
71 Warren 135160 688 2808 246 3496 25.87 5.09 20.78 1.82
72 Sturgis 10796 61 259 25 320 29.64 5.65 23.99 2.32
73 Niles 11154 70 273 27 343 30.75 6.28 24.48 2.42
74 Romulus 23389 190 532 57 722 30.87 8.12 22.75 2.44
75 Melvindale 10291 68 243 24 311 30.22 6.61 23.61 2.33
76 Grand Rapids 200428 1313 3830 335 5143 25.66 6.55 19.11 1.67
77 Kentwood 52192 193 1100 79 1293 24.77 3.70 21.08 1.51
78 Saginaw Township 39198 79 796 48 875 22.32 2.02 20.31 1.22
79 Mount Morris Township 20295 137 401 31 538 26.51 6.75 19.76 1.53
80 Cadillac 10455 68 226 17 294 28.12 6.50 21.62 1.63
81 Bay City 32953 231 732 57 963 29.22 7.01 22.21 1.73
82 Wayne 16862 132 266 19 398 23.60 7.83 15.78 1.13
83 Adrian 20624 115 474 32 589 28.56 5.58 22.98 1.55
84 Taylor 61037 366 1346 91 1712 28.05 6.00 22.05 1.49
85 Southgate 28959 46 789 44 835 28.83 1.59 27.25 1.52
86 Redford Township 46899 302 1044 68 1346 28.70 6.44 22.26 1.45
87 Coldwater 10736 49 312 21 361 33.63 4.56 29.06 1.96
88 Port Huron 28907 230 746 56 976 33.76 7.96 25.81 1.94
89 Hamtramck 21668 166 493 34 659 30.41 7.66 22.75 1.57
90 Norton Shores 24578 37 695 32 732 29.78 1.51 28.28 1.30
91 Burton 28464 127 685 33 812 28.53 4.46 24.07 1.16
92 Kalamazoo Township 24623 98 660 33 758 30.78 3.98 26.80 1.34
93 Grandville 16057 28 516 25 544 33.88 1.74 32.14 1.56
94 Lincoln Park 36466 208 1023 56 1231 33.76 5.70 28.05 1.54
95 Portage 49175 117 1442 66 1559 31.70 2.38 29.32 1.34
96 Battle Creek 60615 600 1958 139 2558 42.20 9.90 32.30 2.29
97 Meridian Township 43072 98 1090 41 1188 27.58 2.28 25.31 0.95
98 Roseville 47524 187 1528 72 1715 36.09 3.93 32.15 1.52
99 Detroit 671275 13478 28897 3019 42375 63.13 20.08 43.05 4.50
100 Lansing 117380 1301 3557 213 4858 41.39 11.08 30.30 1.81
101 Saginaw 48302 783 886 61 1669 34.55 16.21 18.34 1.26
102 Inkster 24334 262 656 36 918 37.72 10.77 26.96 1.48
103 Muskegon 38125 245 1717 83 1962 51.46 6.43 45.04 2.18
104 Kalamazoo 76020 1008 3825 251 4833 63.58 13.26 50.32 3.30
105 Eastpointe 32526 222 1063 41 1285 39.51 6.83 32.68 1.26
106 Harper Woods 13674 128 677 33 805 58.87 9.36 49.51 2.41
107 Flint Township 30378 266 1214 50 1480 48.72 8.76 39.96 1.65
108 Blackman Township 36884 97 1321 35 1418 38.44 2.63 35.81 0.95
109 Jackson 32602 366 1387 59 1753 53.77 11.23 42.54 1.81
110 Flint 95677 1739 2584 119 4323 45.18 18.18 27.01 1.24
111 Fruitport Township 14168 15 544 10 559 39.46 1.06 38.40 0.71
112 Emmett Township 11619 42 606 15 648 55.77 3.61 52.16 1.29
113 Muskegon Township 17879 40 781 15 821 45.92 2.24 43.68 0.84
114 Highland Park 10794 188 344 10 532 49.29 17.42 31.87 0.93
115 Muskegon Heights 10720 240 630 25 870 81.16 22.39 58.77 2.33
116 Benton Township 14382 231 857 28 1088 75.65 16.06 59.59 1.95
Methodology
To identify the safest cities, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and cities with populations under 10,000. This left 3,381 cities (out of a total of 9,251).
There are two broad classifications of crimes: violent crimes and non-violent crimes. According to the FBI, “Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses that involve force or threat of force. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims. ”
We computed the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent crimes and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transformed the total crime rate variable so that the skewness was reduced and normalized.
Data from 2,831 law enforcement agencies was then collected to determine police adequacy (TotalCrimes / Number of police employees). We consider that the smaller the police adequacy statistic is, the safer the city is. This variable was also transformed and normalized.
Finally, the two variables were combined to create a safety score for each city.
