Photo: User:Kgmnmr · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime recorded in Burns Harbor, and why it isn’t graded
No FBI crime figures of its own exist for Burns Harbor for 2023–2025, so there is nothing to grade. Within a 25-mile drive lie 17 towns that have a grade. The closest graded town is Portage, 3 miles away, at B−.
The nearest Indiana towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage | B− | 3 mi | 2.4 | 11.0 |
| Valparaiso | B+ | 10 mi | 1.0 | 8.6 |
| Hobart | C | 11 mi | 1.3 | 21.9 |
| Gary | D− | 12 mi | 12.1 | 30.5 |
| Michigan City | C | 15 mi | 3.0 | 19.9 |
| Griffith | B | 17 mi | 1.3 | 9.0 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Burns Harbor. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Burns Harbor.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Three people died in crashes on Burns Harbor’s roads in 2019–2023
Burns Harbor had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian. Most of these deaths (2 of 3) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is about what is typical for Indiana towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (13.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Burns Harbor’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Burns Harbor’s own rate (27.8) 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.
Burns Harbor and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portage | B− | 2.4 | 11.0 |
| Westchester Township | — | — | — |
| Portage Township | — | — | — |
| Chesterton | — | — | — |
| Liberty Township | — | — | — |
| Porter | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Westchester Township, Portage Township and Liberty Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Chesterton reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024. Porter reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023.
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.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- 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 Burns Harbor
Is Burns Harbor, IN safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Burns Harbor. Burns Harbor has no FBI crime figures of its own for 2023–2025, so there is nothing to grade it on. The nearest Indiana towns with a grade are Portage (B−, 3 mi), Valparaiso (B+, 10 mi), Hobart (C, 11 mi).
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 Burns Harbor.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 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.