The crimes the grade counts rose 167% per resident in West Branch from 2023 to 2025
On violence it beats 77% of U.S. towns, and on property crime 61%. Add to that, its letter overall is B+: less crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Per 1,000 residents a year, 0.7 violent crime and 8.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 5.4 and 17.5 in the rest of 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 West Branch
A job center
West Branch has 2,188 jobs based in town for 2,370 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read 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 West Branch’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | West Branch property | Rest of Michigan property | West Branch violent | Rest of Michigan violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.9 | 18.7 | 1.3 | 5.7 |
| 2023 | 5.5 | 19.4 | 0.8 | 5.7 |
| 2024 | 3.8 | 17.4 | 0.4 | 5.4 |
| 2025 | 16.1 | 15.6 | 0.8 | 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | West Branch | Rest of Michigan | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 5.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.4 | 5.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 5.1 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
West Branch’s police reported 5 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 West Branch 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.
40 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.
2 violent and 38 property, as reported to the FBI by West Branch’s police.
No one died in a crash on West Branch’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 West Branch’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so West Branch’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.
West Branch and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Branch | B+ | 0.7 | 8.5 |
| Ogemaw Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Ogemaw Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Michigan towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Branch | B+ | 0.7 | 8.5 |
| Pinckney | A− | 0.7 | 5.7 |
| Hudson | B | 1.4 | 10.2 |
| Hartford | B− | 2.4 | 9.9 |
| Bronson | C | 1.4 | 21.2 |
| Charlevoix | C | 2.8 | 17.0 |
The five graded Michigan towns closest to West Branch’s population (2,370), 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 West Branch. 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 West Branch’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (2,357 in 2025); our figure for West Branch is 2,370 (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 West Branch
Is West Branch, MI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, West Branch reports less crime per resident than 70% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade. 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 West Branch?
0.7 violent and 8.5 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.
Who polices West Branch?
West Branch’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “West Branch”. 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 West Branch.
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.