Photo: Epsatre · CC BY-SA 4.0On violent crime, South St. Paul has a higher rate per resident than 66% of U.S. towns
The yearly rates were 2.5 violent crimes and 14.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 3.0 and 20.2 in the rest of Minnesota. Even so, it grades C+ for safety on crimes South St. Paul’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #123 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota. Per resident, the graded crimes were down 27% from 2023 to 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 South St. Paul
1 of the 3 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Minnesota towns on South St. Paul’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Inver Grove Heights (C+), West St. Paul (D), St. Paul (D). Newport has no FBI figures of its 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 South St. Paul’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. Its violent rate (2.5) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (14.0) 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 | South St. Paul property | Rest of Minnesota property | South St. Paul violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23.1 | 24.8 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 15.9 | 21.8 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 13.2 | 20.7 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 12.8 | 18.3 | 1.1 | 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 | South St. Paul | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
South St. Paul’s police reported 157 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.5 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 South St. Paul 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.
286 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.
22 violent and 264 property, as reported to the FBI by South St. Paul’s police.
Three people died in crashes on South St. Paul’s roads in 2019–2023
South St. Paul had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 2 were pedestrians.
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 South St. Paul’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so South St. Paul’s own rate (2.9) 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.
South St. Paul and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South St. Paul | C+ | 2.5 | 14.0 |
| Inver Grove Heights | C+ | 1.7 | 14.2 |
| West St. Paul | D | 2.1 | 40.9 |
| St. Paul | D | 5.8 | 29.0 |
| Newport | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Newport has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| South St. Paul | C+ | 2.5 | 14.0 |
| Golden Valley | B+ | 0.7 | 8.7 |
| Sartell | B | 0.6 | 13.8 |
| Forest Lake | B− | 0.9 | 14.6 |
| New Hope | C+ | 1.3 | 18.8 |
| Hopkins | C+ | 2.7 | 14.3 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to South St. Paul’s population (20,532), 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 South St. Paul. 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 South St. Paul’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (20,560 in 2025); our figure for South St. Paul is 20,532 (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 South St. Paul
Is South St. Paul, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, South St. Paul reports more crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #123 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 2.5 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 South St. Paul?
2.5 violent and 14.0 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 South St. Paul safer than Inver Grove Heights?
Inver Grove Heights reports less crime per resident than South St. Paul: Inver Grove Heights grades C+ for safety and South St. Paul C+. Inver Grove Heights’s police reported 1.7 violent and 14.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices South St. Paul?
South St. Paul’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “South St. Paul”. 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 South St. Paul.
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.