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Minneapolis and St. Louis DepotMinneapolis and St. Louis Depot · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0
A
Safety in Fairfax · FBI data, 2023–2025

Fairfax reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns

On crimes reported to the FBI by Fairfax’s police in 2023–2025, it grades A for safety.

Violent crime
0.3
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of MN (3.0)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
3.0
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of MN (20.2)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
12
1 violent · 11 property
2023–2025
Trend
→ Steady
2023 to 2025
within ordinary swings

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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Fairfax’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.

Where Fairfax sits
A Violent 0.3A Property 3.0
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 94%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,448)Less crime than 89%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 12 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Fairfax anywhere from A to A+.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Fairfax’s police reported 1 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 2 property crimes reported

And about 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (1.7)Violent crime (0.8)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Fairfax0.8
Rest of MN2.7
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Fairfax1.7
Rest of MN18.2
U.S. (FBI)15.5

Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

Trend

Reported crime is steady

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.

Show as a table
YearFairfax propertyRest of Minnesota propertyFairfax violentRest of Minnesota violent
20224.024.80.03.4
20233.321.80.03.1
20244.220.60.03.1
20251.718.20.82.7

Crimes per 1,000 residents

What gets reported

3 crimes reported in 2025

1 violent and 2 property, as reported to the FBI by Fairfax’s police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft1
Burglary1
Vehicle theft0
Aggravated assault0
Robbery0
Rape1
Homicide0
Arson0
1
violent crimes
2
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

One person died in crashes on Fairfax’s roads in 2019–2023

Fairfax had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.

That is about what is typical for Minnesota towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (4.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Fairfax’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Fairfax’s own rate (18.4) is context, not a ranking.

1
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
18.4
per 100,000 a year · Minnesota towns of 2,500–5,000: 4.7

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.

Next door

Fairfax and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

Cairo Township: not gradedCamp Township: not gradedCairo TownshipCamp TownshipFairfax
A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
FairfaxA0.33.0

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Minnesota towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
FairfaxA0.33.0
AdrianA+0.02.2
TylerA+0.30.3
RenvilleA−0.95.7
New RichlandB−1.910.8
RoyaltonC+1.319.8

The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Fairfax’s population (1,203), by grade.

How to read these numbers

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 Fairfax. 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 Fairfax’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (1,210 in 2025); our figure for Fairfax is 1,203 (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 Fairfax

Is Fairfax, MN safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Fairfax reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade. Its police reported 0.3 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 Fairfax?

0.3 violent and 3.0 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 Fairfax?

Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.

Who polices Fairfax?

Fairfax’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Fairfax”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Fairfax.

Town Square →
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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.