Hillsdale County Courthouse · Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domainHillsdale sees more violent crime per resident than 72% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts dropped 25% from 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 3.0 violent crimes and 7.9 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 5.4 and 17.5 in the rest of Michigan. Its letter overall is B− (#147 of 266 graded towns in Michigan): close to the middle of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025.
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 Hillsdale
A college town
Hillsdale is home to Hillsdale College, with 1,720 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 20% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
Hillsdale has 4,862 jobs based in town for 8,002 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 Hillsdale’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Hillsdale’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (3.0) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Hillsdale property | Rest of Michigan property | Hillsdale violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.5 | 18.7 | 3.1 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 9.2 | 19.4 | 4.1 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 6.4 | 17.4 | 2.9 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 8.2 | 15.6 | 1.9 | 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 | Hillsdale | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.1 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Hillsdale’s police reported 71 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.0 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 Hillsdale 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
80 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.
15 violent and 65 property, as reported to the FBI by Hillsdale’s police.
No one died in a crash on Hillsdale’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than 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 Hillsdale’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Hillsdale’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Hillsdale and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale | B− | 3.0 | 7.9 |
| Fayette Township | — | — | — |
| Hillsdale Township | — | — | — |
| Cambria Township | — | — | — |
| Jefferson Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fayette Township, Hillsdale Township, Cambria Township and Jefferson Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale | B− | 3.0 | 7.9 |
| Grand Blanc | B | 1.9 | 7.3 |
| Brighton | B | 0.7 | 12.6 |
| St. Joseph | C | 3.0 | 13.9 |
| Three Rivers | D | 6.2 | 33.9 |
| Lansing Township | D− | 7.8 | 42.7 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Hillsdale’s population (8,002), 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 Hillsdale. 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 Hillsdale’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (7,971 in 2025); our figure for Hillsdale is 8,002 (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 Hillsdale
Is Hillsdale, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Hillsdale reports more crime per resident than 53% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #147 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 3.0 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 Hillsdale?
3.0 violent and 7.9 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.
Who polices Hillsdale?
Hillsdale’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Hillsdale”. 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 Hillsdale.
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.