Harper Woods sees more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns
Next door, 2 of 3 towns with figures record less crime per resident. On top of that, on crimes reported by Harper Woods’ police in 2023–2025, it grades D− for safety: #253 of 266 graded towns in Michigan. The local count comes to 6.5 violent crimes and 45.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 5.4 and 17.4 in the rest of Michigan.
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 Harper Woods
2 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 3 Michigan towns on Harper Woods’ borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Grosse Pointe Woods (B), Eastpointe (D), Detroit (D−). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Harper Woods’ 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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Crime in Harper Woods 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 6 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Harper Woods | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.4 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Harper Woods’ police reported 289 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.5 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.4 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Harper Woods property | Rest of Michigan property | Harper Woods violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 47.4 | 18.6 | 6.4 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 46.7 | 19.3 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 42.7 | 17.3 | 7.7 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 47.5 | 15.5 | 6.0 | 5.1 |
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 Michigan.
792 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.
89 violent and 703 property, as reported to the FBI by Harper Woods’ police.
Six people died in crashes on Harper Woods’s roads in 2019–2023
Harper Woods had 6 fatal crashes in five years, in which six people died; 2 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for Michigan towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Harper Woods’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Harper Woods’s own rate (7.9) 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.
Harper Woods and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harper Woods | D− | 6.5 | 45.6 |
| Detroit | D− | 18.2 | 43.0 |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | B | 0.9 | 13.1 |
| Eastpointe | D | 7.0 | 23.4 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harper Woods | D− | 6.5 | 45.6 |
| Berkley | A | 0.4 | 4.0 |
| Springfield Township | A | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| Lincoln Township | B+ | 1.0 | 8.5 |
| Fraser | C | 2.3 | 17.6 |
| Hazel Park | C | 3.0 | 16.9 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Harper Woods’ population (14,860), 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 Harper Woods. 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 Harper Woods’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,814 in 2025); our figure for Harper Woods is 14,860 (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 Harper Woods
Is Harper Woods, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Harper Woods reports more crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #253 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 6.5 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 Harper Woods?
6.5 violent and 45.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Michigan reports 5.4 and 17.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Harper Woods safer than Detroit?
Detroit reports more crime per resident than Harper Woods: Detroit grades D− for safety and Harper Woods D−. Detroit’s police reported 18.2 violent and 43.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Harper Woods?
Harper Woods’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Harper Woods”. 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 Harper Woods.
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.