Photo: Darb02 · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Austin records more property crime than seven in ten U.S. towns
Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#123 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota). Per 1,000 residents a year, 2.0 violent crimes and 16.5 incidents of property crime were recorded, against 3.0 and 20.2 in the rest of Minnesota. The rate the grade counts held about level from 2023 to 2025.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MN” is every other Minnesota 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 Austin
A college town
Austin is home to Riverland Community College, with 2,913 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 4% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Austin’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. Its violent rate (2.0) 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. Its property rate (16.5) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Austin | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Austin’s police reported 159 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.0 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Austin 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Austin property | Rest of Minnesota property | Austin violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.5 | 24.9 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 16.9 | 21.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 16.0 | 20.7 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 16.7 | 18.2 | 1.9 | 2.7 |
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 Minnesota.
498 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.
50 violent and 448 property, as reported to the FBI by Austin’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Austin’s roads in 2019–2023
Austin had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 2 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is about what is typical for Minnesota towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (4.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Austin’s size would see about 6 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Austin’s own rate (2.3) 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.
Austin and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | C+ | 2.0 | 16.5 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | C+ | 2.0 | 16.5 |
| Farmington | A | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| Elk River | B+ | 0.9 | 9.3 |
| Owatonna | B | 1.8 | 7.8 |
| Prior Lake | B | 1.2 | 11.0 |
| Winona | C | 1.7 | 22.2 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Austin’s population (26,689), 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 Austin. 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 Austin’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (26,812 in 2025); our figure for Austin is 26,689 (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 Austin
Is Austin, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Austin reports more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #123 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 2.0 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Austin?
2.0 violent and 16.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Minnesota reports 3.0 and 20.2; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Austin in 2025?
Austin’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 3.7 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Austin?
Austin’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Austin”. 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 Austin.
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.