Photo: Nanamac47 · CC BY-SA 3.0South Haven records more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns
Behind the grade sit 6.8 violent crimes and 57.4 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people a year, where the comparison is 5.4 and 17.4 in the rest of Michigan. Per resident, the graded rate barely moved from 2023 to 2025. Counting crimes South Haven’s police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades D− for safety: #259 of 266 graded towns in Michigan. Violent crime here is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns; property crime, higher than in 99%.
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 South Haven
A job center
South Haven has 3,026 jobs based in town for 4,002 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind South Haven’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Crime in South Haven 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 | South Haven | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 8.2 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South Haven’s police reported 82 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 6.8 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 | South Haven property | Rest of Michigan property | South Haven violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 76.4 | 18.7 | 6.9 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 61.2 | 19.4 | 8.2 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 49.6 | 17.4 | 6.7 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 61.3 | 15.6 | 5.5 | 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.
269 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.
22 violent and 247 property, as reported to the FBI by South Haven’s police.
No one died in a crash on South Haven’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for Michigan towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (12.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of South Haven’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South Haven’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.
South Haven and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Haven | D− | 6.8 | 57.4 |
| Casco Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Casco Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Haven | D− | 6.8 | 57.4 |
| Richland Township | B+ | 1.7 | 3.4 |
| Marine City | B | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| Lathrup Village | B | 1.7 | 9.6 |
| Otsego | B− | 2.7 | 9.6 |
| Vicksburg | C | 2.9 | 15.9 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to South Haven’s population (4,002), 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 South Haven. 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 South Haven’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (4,031 in 2025); our figure for South Haven is 4,002 (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 South Haven
Is South Haven, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South Haven reports more crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, a D− Safety Grade and #259 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 6.8 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 South Haven?
6.8 violent and 57.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Michigan reports 5.4 and 17.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices South Haven?
South Haven’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South Haven”. 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 South Haven.
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.