Photo: Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0Sterling Heights is about average among U.S. towns for recorded crime
Across all the graded crimes, Sterling Heights lands on B− (#144 of 266 graded towns in Michigan, and #34 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025. Out of every 1,000 residents, 2.1 violent crimes and 11.0 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 5.5 and 17.6 in the rest of Michigan. Even so, the rate the grade counts climbed 7% from 2023 to 2025. Among its 5 neighbors with figures, 2 record less crime per resident.
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 Sterling Heights
2 of the 5 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 5 Michigan towns on Sterling Heights’ borders, 5 have a Safety Grade: Shelby Township (B+), Troy (B), Clinton Township (C), Warren (C−), Utica (C−). Neighbors ↓
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Sterling Heights’ police reported 1 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 0.8 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Michigan (6.5) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Michigan
11.8 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (10 reported in 2025), below the rest of Michigan (46.4) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Sterling Heights reports less crime per resident than 90% (#34). Places like it ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Sterling Heights’ grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Sterling Heights’ grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (2.1) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Homicides and robberies
Show as a table
| Year | Sterling Heights | Rest of Michigan | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.6 | 53.5 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 12.9 | 54.6 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 15.0 | 46.3 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 7.4 | 38.4 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
Sterling Heights’ police reported 1 homicides, 10 robberies and 295 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Michigan and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Sterling Heights property | Rest of Michigan property | Sterling Heights violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 11.7 | 18.9 | 2.1 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 11.1 | 19.6 | 1.7 | 5.8 |
| 2024 | 10.4 | 17.5 | 2.3 | 5.5 |
| 2025 | 11.5 | 15.7 | 2.2 | 5.1 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose 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 Sterling Heights 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 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
1,842 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.
295 violent and 1,547 property, as reported to the FBI by Sterling Heights’ police.
30 people died in crashes on Sterling Heights’s roads in 2019–2023
Sterling Heights had 30 fatal crashes in five years, in which 30 people died; 7 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist.
That is 4.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for Michigan towns of 100,000+ people (7.7, 8 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.
Sterling Heights and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Heights | B− | 2.1 | 11.0 |
| Utica | C− | 3.8 | 26.3 |
| Shelby Township | B+ | 1.5 | 5.4 |
| Troy | B | 1.0 | 12.0 |
| Warren | C− | 5.3 | 15.8 |
| Clinton Township | C | 3.1 | 14.1 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Heights | B− | 2.1 | 11.0 |
| Canton Township | B− | 1.9 | 10.5 |
| Livonia | C+ | 2.3 | 13.3 |
| Ann Arbor | C | 3.0 | 17.2 |
| Dearborn | C | 2.8 | 19.5 |
| Lansing | D− | 12.4 | 23.4 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to Sterling Heights’ population (133,931), 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 Sterling Heights. 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 Sterling Heights’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (134,402 in 2025); our figure for Sterling Heights is 133,931 (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 Sterling Heights
Is Sterling Heights, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Sterling Heights reports more crime per resident than 52% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #144 of 266 in Michigan. Its police reported 2.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 5.5 in the rest of Michigan and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Sterling Heights?
2.1 violent and 11.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Michigan reports 5.5 and 17.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Sterling Heights in 2025?
Sterling Heights’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Sterling Heights safer than Utica?
Utica reports more crime per resident than Sterling Heights: Utica grades C− for safety and Sterling Heights B−. Utica’s police reported 3.8 violent and 26.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Sterling Heights?
Sterling Heights’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Sterling Heights”. 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 Sterling Heights.
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.