Photo: Public domain · Public domainNo grade for Notre Dame, but its recorded crime is here
For a graded neighbor, the nearest is South Bend (D), 2 miles away. Notre Dame has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in St. Joseph County. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Notre Dame alone, and no Safety Grade. 2 towns with a Safety Grade lie within 10 miles.
What stands out about safety in Notre Dame
Policed by the county
Notre Dame is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Notre Dame. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Indiana towns with their own police figures are South Bend (D, 2 mi), Mishawaka (C−, 4 mi), Bristol (C−, 21 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Notre Dame. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of St. Joseph County without police of their own, which include Notre Dame.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest Indiana towns with a Safety Grade
Straight-line distance from the center of Notre Dame. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Notre Dame.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
One person died in crashes on Notre Dame’s roads in 2019–2023
Notre Dame had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what is typical for Indiana towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (8.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Notre Dame’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Notre Dame’s own rate (2.9) 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.
Notre Dame and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Bend | D | 8.7 | 18.6 |
| Portage Township | — | — | — |
| Clay Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Portage Township and Clay Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
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 Notre Dame
Is Notre Dame, IN safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Notre Dame. The nearest Indiana towns with a grade are South Bend (D, 2 mi), Mishawaka (C−, 4 mi), Bristol (C−, 21 mi).
Who polices Notre Dame?
The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office. Notre Dame is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of St. Joseph County without police of their own.
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 Notre Dame.
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.