North Branch sees less property crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns
Each year brought 0.7 violent crime and 3.2 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (3.0 and 20.3 in the rest of Minnesota). Add to that, its Safety Grade is A, on crimes North Branch’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #19 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’s behind North 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; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | North Branch | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
North Branch’s police reported 27 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.7 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 North 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.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | North Branch property | Rest of Minnesota property | North Branch violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.2 | 24.9 | 1.6 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 5.6 | 21.8 | 0.5 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 20.7 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 18.3 | 0.6 | 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.
41 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.
8 violent and 33 property, as reported to the FBI by North Branch’s police.
Four people died in crashes on North Branch’s roads in 2019–2023
North Branch had 4 fatal crashes in five years, in which four people died. Most of these deaths (2 of 4) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
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 North Branch’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so North Branch’s own rate (6.9) 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.
North Branch and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Branch | A | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| Stacy | — | — | — |
| North Branch Township | — | — | — |
| Sunrise Township | — | — | — |
| Harris | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Stacy, North Branch Township, Sunrise Township and Harris have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Branch | A | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| Big Lake | A− | 0.9 | 4.0 |
| St. Peter | A− | 0.9 | 6.0 |
| Cloquet | B | 1.9 | 5.9 |
| Mounds View | B | 1.7 | 10.0 |
| North St. Paul | C+ | 1.9 | 18.2 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to North Branch’s population (12,398), 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 North 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 North Branch’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (12,637 in 2025); our figure for North Branch is 12,398 (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 North Branch
Is North Branch, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, North Branch reports less crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #19 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 0.7 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 North Branch?
0.7 violent and 3.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Minnesota reports 3.0 and 20.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Who polices North Branch?
North Branch’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “North 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 North 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.