Photo: cjohnson7 · CC BY 2.0Rochester sits close to the middle of U.S. towns for reported crime
Overall, Rochester grades C+ for safety (#104 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota, and #45 of 325 U.S. cities over 100,000): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI 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 Rochester
Homicides: below U.S. cities overall
Rochester’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI in 2025. Over 2023–2025 that is 1.9 per 100,000 residents a year, below the rest of Minnesota (3.6) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (5.7). Violent crime ↓
Robberies: below the rest of Minnesota
26.3 robberies per 100,000 residents a year over 2023–2025 (37 reported in 2025), below the rest of Minnesota (59.1) and below all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables (79.4). Violent crime ↓
Against other big cities
Among the 325 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, Rochester reports less crime per resident than 86% (#45). Places like it ↓
A job center
Rochester has 96,136 jobs based in town for 124,292 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Rochester’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Rochester’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.
Homicides and robberies
Rochester’s police reported 1 homicides, 37 robberies and 228 violent crimes in all to the FBI in 2025. By year, against the rest of Minnesota and all U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables.
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 7.7 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 4.1 | 6.8 |
| 2024 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 5.7 |
| 2025 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 4.6 |
Homicides per 100,000 residents
Show as a table
| Year | Rochester | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. cities (FBI tables) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 26.3 | 77.4 | 95.5 |
| 2023 | 22.9 | 64.6 | 90.6 |
| 2024 | 26.1 | 65.6 | 81.9 |
| 2025 | 29.8 | 47.3 | 66.0 |
Robberies per 100,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 14 property crimes reported
And about 2 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.
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
| Year | Rochester property | Rest of Minnesota property | Rochester violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.7 | 25.0 | 2.2 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 15.9 | 22.0 | 1.6 | 3.2 |
| 2024 | 13.7 | 20.8 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 14.3 | 18.3 | 1.8 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
2,001 crimes reported in 2025
228 violent and 1,773 property, as reported to the FBI by Rochester’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
15 people died in crashes on Rochester’s roads in 2019–2023
Rochester had 14 fatal crashes in five years, in which 15 people died; 3 were pedestrians.
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.
Rochester and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | C+ | 1.7 | 14.6 |
| Cascade Township | — | — | — |
| Rochester Township | — | — | — |
| Haverhill Township | — | — | — |
| Marion Township | — | — | — |
| Kalmar Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Cascade Township, Rochester Township, Haverhill Township, Marion Township and Kalmar Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | C+ | 1.7 | 14.6 |
| Lakeville | A− | 0.9 | 5.9 |
| Woodbury | B | 0.8 | 12.1 |
| Brooklyn Park | C− | 3.4 | 23.7 |
| Duluth | C− | 2.4 | 29.7 |
| Bloomington | D | 3.0 | 34.0 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Rochester’s population (124,292), 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 Rochester. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Rochester’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (124,142 in 2025); our figure for Rochester is 124,292 (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 Rochester
Is Rochester, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rochester reports more crime per resident than 56% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #104 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 1.7 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 Rochester?
1.7 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 20.4; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Rochester?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Rochester in 2025?
Rochester’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.8 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Rochester?
Rochester’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rochester”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Rochester.
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.