Photo: Elkman · CC BY-SA 3.0Brainerd reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Brainerd’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #148 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota.
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 Brainerd
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Minnesota towns on Brainerd’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Baxter (C). Oak Lawn Township, Crow Wing Township and Long Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Brainerd is home to Central Lakes College-Brainerd, with 4,127 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 ↓
A job center
Brainerd has 9,688 jobs based in town for 14,428 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell 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 Brainerd’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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime is falling
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Minnesota.
Show as a table
| Year | Brainerd property | Rest of Minnesota property | Brainerd violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.2 | 24.8 | 5.1 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 22.2 | 21.8 | 5.7 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 17.8 | 20.6 | 4.3 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 15.7 | 18.2 | 2.5 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 16 property crimes reported
And about 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Brainerd’s police reported 183 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Brainerd | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.1 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
262 crimes reported in 2025
36 violent and 226 property, as reported to the FBI by Brainerd’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Three people died in crashes on Brainerd’s roads in 2019–2023
Brainerd had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian and 1 was a cyclist.
That is about what is typical for Minnesota towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Brainerd’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Brainerd’s own rate (4.1) 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.
Brainerd and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brainerd | C− | 4.2 | 18.6 |
| Oak Lawn Township | — | — | — |
| Baxter | C | 1.5 | 24.5 |
| Crow Wing Township | — | — | — |
| Long Lake Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Oak Lawn Township, Crow Wing Township and Long Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brainerd | C− | 4.2 | 18.6 |
| North Mankato | B | 1.7 | 8.9 |
| Marshall | B | 2.5 | 6.3 |
| Hutchinson | B− | 2.2 | 10.3 |
| Robbinsdale | C | 3.6 | 16.7 |
| Fergus Falls | C | 2.1 | 23.5 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Brainerd’s population (14,428), by grade.
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 Brainerd. 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 Brainerd’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (14,407 in 2025); our figure for Brainerd is 14,428 (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 Brainerd
Is Brainerd, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Brainerd reports more crime per resident than 79% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #148 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 4.2 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 Brainerd?
4.2 violent and 18.6 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.
Is crime going up or down in Brainerd?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Brainerd safer than Baxter?
Baxter reports less crime per resident than Brainerd: Baxter grades C for safety and Brainerd C−. Baxter’s police reported 1.5 violent and 24.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Brainerd?
Brainerd’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Brainerd”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Brainerd.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
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.