Buena Vista Township has more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 28% from 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 11.9 violent crimes and 21.2 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 5.4 and 17.5 in the rest of Michigan. Add to that, that puts it at D− for safety, judged on crimes Buena Vista Township’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #252 of 266 graded towns in Michigan. Violent crime here is higher than in 99% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 80%.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MI” is every other Michigan 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 Buena Vista Township
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 Michigan towns on Buena Vista Township’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Bridgeport Township (C−), Saginaw (D−). Blumfield Township, Merritt Township and Portsmouth Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Zilwaukee reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell from 2023 to 2025 by more than ordinary year-to-year swings, on the grade’s own score. Trend ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Buena Vista Township’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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Buena Vista Township property | Rest of Michigan property | Buena Vista Township violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 11.9 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 25.3 | 19.4 | 11.7 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 21.5 | 17.4 | 13.8 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 16.7 | 15.6 | 10.1 | 5.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Michigan.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Buena Vista Township | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.9 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 11.7 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 13.8 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 10.1 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Buena Vista Township’s police reported 266 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 11.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.4 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Buena Vista Township 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 10 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
199 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.
75 violent and 124 property, as reported to the FBI by Buena Vista Township’s police.
11 people died in crashes on Buena Vista Township’s roads in 2019–2023
Buena Vista Township had 10 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 3 were pedestrians. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 29.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for Michigan towns of 5,000–25,000 people (6.8, 309 towns).
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.
Buena Vista Township and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Township | D− | 11.9 | 21.2 |
| Saginaw | D− | 22.4 | 20.2 |
| Blumfield Township | — | — | — |
| Bridgeport Township | C− | 5.5 | 11.0 |
| Merritt Township | — | — | — |
| Zilwaukee | — | — | — |
| Portsmouth Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Blumfield Township, Merritt Township and Portsmouth Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Zilwaukee reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Township | D− | 11.9 | 21.2 |
| St. Louis | B+ | 1.6 | 5.8 |
| Walled Lake | B+ | 1.3 | 8.0 |
| Madison Township | C+ | 1.6 | 16.0 |
| Hastings | C | 3.7 | 15.8 |
| Albion | D− | 12.6 | 24.5 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Buena Vista Township’s population (7,473), 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 Buena Vista Township. 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 Buena Vista Township’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,444 in 2025); our figure for Buena Vista Township is 7,473 (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 Buena Vista Township
Is Buena Vista Township, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Buena Vista Township reports more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #252 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 11.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.4 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Buena Vista Township?
11.9 violent and 21.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Michigan reports 5.4 and 17.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Buena Vista Township safer than Saginaw?
Saginaw reports more crime per resident than Buena Vista Township: Saginaw grades D− for safety and Buena Vista Township D−. Saginaw’s police reported 22.4 violent and 20.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Buena Vista Township?
Buena Vista Township’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Buena Vista Township”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Neighbors looking out for each other in Buena Vista Township.
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.