Photo: Lectrician2 · CC BY-SA 4.0The crimes the grade counts fell 35% per resident in Forest Lake from 2023 to 2025
Violent crime is lower than in 72% of U.S. towns; property crime, lower than in only 37%. Annual rates stand at 0.9 violent crime and 14.6 incidents of property crime for every thousand residents, next to 3.0 and 20.2 in the rest of Minnesota. Overall, Forest Lake grades B− for safety (#91 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025.
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 Forest Lake
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 6 Minnesota towns on Forest Lake’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Wyoming (A−). Scandia, Hugo, Columbus, Chisago City and Chisago Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
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 Forest Lake’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Forest Lake’s grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (14.6) 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.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Forest Lake property | Rest of Minnesota property | Forest Lake violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.7 | 24.9 | 1.0 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 17.5 | 21.8 | 0.9 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 14.7 | 20.7 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 11.5 | 18.3 | 0.5 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Forest Lake | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Forest Lake’s police reported 55 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.9 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 Forest Lake 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.
249 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.
11 violent and 238 property, as reported to the FBI by Forest Lake’s police.
Five people died in crashes on Forest Lake’s roads in 2019–2023
Forest Lake had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
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 Forest Lake’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Forest Lake’s own rate (4.8) 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.
Forest Lake and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Lake | B− | 0.9 | 14.6 |
| Scandia | — | — | — |
| Hugo | — | — | — |
| Columbus | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | A− | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| Chisago City | — | — | — |
| Chisago Lake Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Scandia, Hugo, Columbus, Chisago City and Chisago Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Lake | B− | 0.9 | 14.6 |
| Golden Valley | B+ | 0.7 | 8.7 |
| Northfield | B− | 1.5 | 10.8 |
| New Hope | C+ | 1.3 | 18.8 |
| South St. Paul | C+ | 2.5 | 14.0 |
| West St. Paul | D | 2.1 | 40.9 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Forest Lake’s population (20,952), 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 Forest Lake. 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 Forest Lake’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (20,700 in 2025); our figure for Forest Lake is 20,952 (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 Forest Lake
Is Forest Lake, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Forest Lake reports less crime per resident than 51% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #91 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 0.9 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 Forest Lake?
0.9 violent and 14.6 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 Forest Lake safer than Wyoming?
Wyoming reports less crime per resident than Forest Lake: Wyoming grades A− for safety and Forest Lake B−. Wyoming’s police reported 1.0 violent and 6.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Forest Lake?
Forest Lake’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Forest Lake”. 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 Forest Lake.
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.