Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pontiac reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Pontiac’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #235 of 266 graded towns in 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 Pontiac
4 of the 4 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 4 Michigan towns on Pontiac’s borders, 4 have a Safety Grade: Bloomfield Township (A−), Sylvan Lake (A−), Waterford Township (B−), Auburn Hills (C−). 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 Pontiac’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 (16.4) 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 | Pontiac property | Rest of Michigan property | Pontiac violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.7 | 18.7 | 10.2 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 19.2 | 19.4 | 10.9 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 16.4 | 17.4 | 9.8 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 13.7 | 15.6 | 8.1 | 5.0 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Violent crime, by year and by type
Pontiac’s police reported 1,790 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 9.6 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 | Pontiac | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 10.2 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 10.9 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 9.8 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 8.1 | 5.0 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And about 8 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.
1,371 crimes reported in 2025
511 violent and 860 property, as reported to the FBI by Pontiac’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
31 people died in crashes on Pontiac’s roads in 2019–2023
Pontiac had 29 fatal crashes in five years, in which 31 people died; 8 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is 10.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above 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.
Pontiac and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontiac | D | 9.6 | 16.4 |
| Auburn Hills | C− | 3.2 | 20.2 |
| Bloomfield Township | A− | 0.4 | 6.6 |
| Waterford Township | B− | 2.6 | 7.5 |
| Sylvan Lake | A− | 0.2 | 7.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontiac | D | 9.6 | 16.4 |
| West Bloomfield Township | A− | 1.0 | 5.1 |
| Royal Oak | B | 1.4 | 8.2 |
| St. Clair Shores | B− | 1.9 | 9.7 |
| Dearborn Heights | C | 4.2 | 13.6 |
| Taylor | D | 7.7 | 19.8 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Pontiac’s population (62,077), 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 Pontiac. 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 Pontiac’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (62,702 in 2025); our figure for Pontiac is 62,077 (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 Pontiac
Is Pontiac, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Pontiac reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #235 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 9.6 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 Pontiac?
9.6 violent and 16.4 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 Pontiac?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Pontiac in 2025?
Pontiac’s police reported 6 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 9.6 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Pontiac safer than Auburn Hills?
Auburn Hills reports less crime per resident than Pontiac: Auburn Hills grades C− for safety and Pontiac D. Auburn Hills’s police reported 3.2 violent and 20.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Pontiac?
Pontiac’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Pontiac”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Pontiac.
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.