Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Fewer crimes per resident are recorded in South Lyon than in 89% of U.S. towns
The grade is A, built on crimes South Lyon’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #20 of 266 graded towns in Michigan. Add to that, recorded violent crime ran at 0.7 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 3.1, against 5.4 and 17.5 in the rest of Michigan. On violence it beats 78% of U.S. towns, and on property crime 90%.
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 Lyon
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 2 Michigan towns on South Lyon’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Lyon Township (A), Green Oak Township (A). Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind South Lyon’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | South Lyon | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.6 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South Lyon’s police reported 25 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 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 South Lyon 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 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | South Lyon property | Rest of Michigan property | South Lyon violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.6 | 18.7 | 0.8 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 2.8 | 19.4 | 1.0 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 17.4 | 0.6 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 3.6 | 15.6 | 0.5 | 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.
50 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.
6 violent and 44 property, as reported to the FBI by South Lyon’s police.
One person died in crashes on South Lyon’s roads in 2019–2023
South Lyon had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person 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 South Lyon’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South Lyon’s own rate (1.7) 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 Lyon and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Lyon | A | 0.7 | 3.1 |
| Lyon Township | A | 0.4 | 2.9 |
| Green Oak Township | A | 0.7 | 3.9 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Thomas Township | B− | 2.6 | 7.1 |
| Escanaba | C− | 3.7 | 18.8 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to South Lyon’s population (12,107), 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 Lyon. 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 Lyon’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,346 in 2025); our figure for South Lyon is 12,107 (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 Lyon
Is South Lyon, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South Lyon reports less crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #20 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 0.7 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 South Lyon?
0.7 violent and 3.1 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 South Lyon safer than Lyon Township?
Lyon Township reports less crime per resident than South Lyon: Lyon Township grades A for safety and South Lyon A. Lyon Township’s police reported 0.4 violent and 2.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices South Lyon?
South Lyon’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South Lyon”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in South Lyon.
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.