Photo: Gpwitteveen · CC BY-SA 3.0On violent crime, Kentwood has a higher rate per resident than 88% of U.S. towns
Scored on crimes Kentwood’s police reported across 2023 to 2025, the town lands on D for safety: #224 of 266 graded towns in Michigan. Even so, the rate the grade counts dropped 26% from 2023 to 2025. The yearly rates were 4.9 violent crimes and 22.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 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 Kentwood
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 Michigan towns on Kentwood’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Wyoming (C−), Grand Rapids (D). Cascade Township, Gaines Township, Grand Rapids Township and Ada Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A job center
Kentwood has 49,203 jobs based in town for 54,776 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 Kentwood’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 | Kentwood property | Rest of Michigan property | Kentwood violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.3 | 18.7 | 4.5 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 27.7 | 19.3 | 5.1 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 21.8 | 17.3 | 3.9 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 18.5 | 15.6 | 5.8 | 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.
Crime in Kentwood 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 | Kentwood | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Kentwood’s police reported 804 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.9 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.4 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
1,333 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. 2025 figures come from FBI Crime Data Explorer, which publishes violent crime, homicides, robberies and property crime only.
320 violent and 1,013 property, as reported to the FBI by Kentwood’s police.
12 people died in crashes on Kentwood’s roads in 2019–2023
Kentwood had 12 fatal crashes in five years, in which 12 people died; 5 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 4.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Michigan towns of 25,000–100,000 people (5.3, 77 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.
Kentwood and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentwood | D | 4.9 | 22.6 |
| Grand Rapids | D | 9.0 | 26.1 |
| Cascade Township | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | C− | 4.7 | 22.2 |
| Gaines Township | — | — | — |
| Grand Rapids Township | — | — | — |
| Ada Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Cascade Township, Gaines Township, Grand Rapids Township and Ada Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentwood | D | 4.9 | 22.6 |
| Royal Oak | B | 1.4 | 8.2 |
| St. Clair Shores | B− | 1.9 | 9.7 |
| Dearborn Heights | C | 4.2 | 13.6 |
| Portage | C− | 2.5 | 29.1 |
| Battle Creek | D− | 11.5 | 26.0 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Kentwood’s population (54,776), 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 Kentwood. 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 Kentwood’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (54,895 in 2025); our figure for Kentwood is 54,776 (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 Kentwood
Is Kentwood, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Kentwood reports more crime per resident than 86% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #224 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 4.9 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 Kentwood?
4.9 violent and 22.6 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.
How many homicides were there in Kentwood in 2025?
Kentwood’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Kentwood safer than Grand Rapids?
Grand Rapids reports more crime per resident than Kentwood: Grand Rapids grades D for safety and Kentwood D. Grand Rapids’s police reported 9.0 violent and 26.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Kentwood?
Kentwood’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Kentwood Police Department”. 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 Kentwood.
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.