Medical Arts Building · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Grand Rapids runs higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Annual rates stand at 9.0 violent crimes and 26.1 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 5.3 and 17.2 in the rest of Michigan. By contrast, the graded rate fell 18% from 2023 to 2025. Measured on crimes Grand Rapids’ police reported between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #242 of 266 graded towns in Michigan, and #257 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000. Each of the 4 towns on its borders with figures records less crime per resident.
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 Grand Rapids
4 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Michigan towns on Grand Rapids’ borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: East Grand Rapids (B+), Walker (C−), Wyoming (C−), Kentwood (D). Grand Rapids Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Homicides: above U.S. cities overall
Grand Rapids’ police reported 13 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 8.1 per 100,000 residents a year, above the rest of Michigan (6.3) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: 2.4 times the rest of Michigan
106 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (191 reported in 2025), 2.4 times the rest of Michigan (43.8) and above all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Grand Rapids reports less crime per resident than 21% (#257). Places like it ↓
A job center
Grand Rapids has 127,078 jobs based in town for 201,183 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 Grand Rapids’ 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 | Grand Rapids property | Rest of Michigan property | Grand Rapids violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30.1 | 18.4 | 9.8 | 5.6 |
| 2023 | 30.4 | 19.1 | 8.8 | 5.6 |
| 2024 | 24.8 | 17.1 | 9.1 | 5.3 |
| 2025 | 23.2 | 15.4 | 8.9 | 4.9 |
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.
Crime in Grand Rapids 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 9 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Grand Rapids | Rest of Michigan | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 11.7 | 7.5 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 6.5 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Grand Rapids | Rest of Michigan | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 136 | 50.1 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 106 | 52.1 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 116 | 43.4 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 95.3 | 35.9 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Grand Rapids’ police reported 13 homicides, 191 robberies and 1,792 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Michigan and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
6,434 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.
1,792 violent and 4,642 property, as reported to the FBI by Grand Rapids’ police.
75 people died in crashes on Grand Rapids’s roads in 2019–2023
Grand Rapids had 71 fatal crashes in five years, in which 75 people died; 22 were pedestrians and 4 were cyclists. 9 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 7.6 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Michigan towns of 100,000+ people (7.7, 8 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.
Grand Rapids and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids | D | 9.0 | 26.1 |
| Walker | C− | 2.3 | 24.7 |
| Grand Rapids Township | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | C− | 4.7 | 22.2 |
| Kentwood | D | 4.9 | 22.6 |
| East Grand Rapids | B+ | 0.7 | 10.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Grand Rapids Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids | D | 9.0 | 26.1 |
| Sterling Heights | B− | 2.1 | 11.0 |
| Ann Arbor | C | 3.0 | 17.2 |
| Dearborn | C | 2.8 | 19.5 |
| Warren | C− | 5.3 | 15.8 |
| Lansing | D− | 12.4 | 23.4 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Grand Rapids’ population (201,183), 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 Grand Rapids. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Grand Rapids’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (200,467 in 2025); our figure for Grand Rapids is 201,183 (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 Grand Rapids
Is Grand Rapids, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Grand Rapids reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #242 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 9.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.3 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Grand Rapids?
9.0 violent and 26.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Michigan reports 5.3 and 17.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Grand Rapids in 2025?
Grand Rapids’s police reported 13 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.5 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Grand Rapids safer than Walker?
Walker reports less crime per resident than Grand Rapids: Walker grades C− for safety and Grand Rapids D. Walker’s police reported 2.3 violent and 24.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Grand Rapids?
Grand Rapids’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Grand Rapids”. 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 Grand Rapids.
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.