Photo: Amin Eshaiker · CC BY-SA 4.0Reported crime per resident in Melvindale fell 31% from 2023 to 2025
Overall, Melvindale grades C for safety (#174 of 266 graded towns in Michigan): more crime per resident than 68% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.
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 Melvindale
1 of the 4 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Michigan towns on Melvindale’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Allen Park (C+), Dearborn (C), Lincoln Park (D), Detroit (D−). 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 Melvindale’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. Its property rate (12.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | Melvindale property | Rest of Michigan property | Melvindale violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 14.5 | 18.7 | 4.6 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 15.6 | 19.4 | 4.5 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 11.7 | 17.4 | 3.0 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 10.2 | 15.6 | 3.7 | 5.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 10 property crimes reported
And about 4 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Melvindale’s police reported 139 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.4 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Melvindale | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.7 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
170 crimes reported in 2025
45 violent and 125 property, as reported to the FBI by Melvindale’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Melvindale’s roads in 2019–2023
Melvindale had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
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 Melvindale’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Melvindale’s own rate (3.2) 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.
Melvindale and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melvindale | C | 3.7 | 12.5 |
| Dearborn | C | 2.8 | 19.5 |
| Allen Park | C+ | 2.1 | 16.8 |
| Detroit | D− | 18.2 | 43.0 |
| Lincoln Park | D | 6.3 | 17.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melvindale | C | 3.7 | 12.5 |
| South Lyon | A | 0.7 | 3.1 |
| New Baltimore | A | 0.8 | 3.4 |
| Ionia | B | 2.5 | 4.7 |
| Riverview | B− | 2.0 | 8.9 |
| Escanaba | C− | 3.7 | 18.8 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Melvindale’s population (12,325), by grade.
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 Melvindale. 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 Melvindale’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,301 in 2025); our figure for Melvindale is 12,325 (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 Melvindale
Is Melvindale, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Melvindale reports more crime per resident than 68% of U.S. towns, a C Safety Grade and #174 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 3.7 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 Melvindale?
3.7 violent and 12.5 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 crime going up or down in Melvindale?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Melvindale safer than Dearborn?
Dearborn reports more crime per resident than Melvindale: Dearborn grades C for safety and Melvindale C. Dearborn’s police reported 2.8 violent and 19.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Melvindale?
Melvindale’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Melvindale”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Melvindale.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.