Antlers Hotel · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0On violent crime, Spirit Lake has a higher rate per resident than 63% of U.S. towns
On crimes Spirit Lake’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C+ for safety: #65 of 105 graded towns in Iowa. Behind the grade sit 2.3 violent crimes and 14.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 3.2 and 17.9 in the rest of Iowa.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of IA” is every other Iowa city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Spirit Lake
A job center
Spirit Lake has 4,184 jobs based in town for 5,525 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Spirit Lake’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.3) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (14.2) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Spirit Lake | Rest of Iowa | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Spirit Lake’s police reported 39 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.2 in the rest of Iowa and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Spirit Lake per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Spirit Lake property | Rest of Iowa property | Spirit Lake violent | Rest of Iowa violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.7 | 19.2 | 2.8 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 17.1 | 20.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 |
| 2024 | 13.9 | 17.9 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 11.5 | 15.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Iowa.
73 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
9 violent and 64 property, as reported to the FBI by Spirit Lake’s police.
Two people died in crashes on Spirit Lake’s roads in 2019–2023
Spirit Lake had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for Iowa towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Spirit Lake’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Spirit Lake’s own rate (7.2) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Spirit Lake and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Lake | C+ | 2.3 | 14.2 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Iowa towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Lake | C+ | 2.3 | 14.2 |
| Sheldon | C+ | 3.8 | 5.8 |
| Osceola | C+ | 1.6 | 18.5 |
| Manchester | C+ | 2.6 | 14.1 |
| DeWitt | C+ | 3.6 | 11.1 |
| Red Oak | C | 3.8 | 12.6 |
The five graded Iowa towns closest to Spirit Lake’s population (5,525), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Spirit Lake. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Spirit Lake’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,569 in 2025); our figure for Spirit Lake is 5,525 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Spirit Lake
Is Spirit Lake, IA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Spirit Lake reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #65 of 105 in Iowa. Its police reported 2.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.2 in the rest of Iowa and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Spirit Lake?
2.3 violent and 14.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Iowa reports 3.2 and 17.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices Spirit Lake?
Spirit Lake’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Spirit Lake”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Spirit Lake.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.