Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Cloud reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by St. Cloud’s police in 2023–2025, it grades D for safety: #156 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 stands out about safety in St. Cloud
2 of the 3 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 8 Minnesota towns on St. Cloud’s borders, 3 have a Safety Grade: Sartell (B), Sauk Rapids (B−), Waite Park (D). Minden Township, Haven Township, Le Sauk Township, St. Augusta and Clear Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
St. Cloud is home to Saint Cloud State University, with 8,690 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 14% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
A job center
St. Cloud has 43,912 jobs based in town for 72,647 residents (Census LEHD), so some reports involve people who work or shop there rather than residents. How to read it ↓
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 St. Cloud’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; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime is falling
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.
Show as a table
| Year | St. Cloud property | Rest of Minnesota property | St. Cloud violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 42.8 | 24.5 | 4.5 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 34.7 | 21.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 29.2 | 20.5 | 4.1 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 24.9 | 18.1 | 3.5 | 2.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 25 property crimes reported
And about 4 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
St. Cloud’s police reported 789 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 3.7 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | St. Cloud | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
2,069 crimes reported in 2025
257 violent and 1,812 property, as reported to the FBI by St. Cloud’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 St. Cloud’s roads in 2019–2023
St. Cloud had 15 fatal crashes in five years, in which 15 people died; 3 were pedestrians. 1 died in crash on an Interstate.
That is 4.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Minnesota towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.2, 40 towns).
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.
St. Cloud and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Cloud | D | 3.7 | 29.5 |
| Minden Township | — | — | — |
| Haven Township | — | — | — |
| Waite Park | D | 1.9 | 51.2 |
| Le Sauk Township | — | — | — |
| St. Augusta | — | — | — |
| Sauk Rapids | B− | 1.3 | 12.7 |
| Sartell | B | 0.6 | 13.8 |
| Clear Lake Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Minden Township, Haven Township, Le Sauk Township, St. Augusta and Clear Lake Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
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 St. Cloud. 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 St. Cloud’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (72,794 in 2025); our figure for St. Cloud is 72,647 (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 St. Cloud
Is St. Cloud, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, St. Cloud reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, a D Safety Grade and #156 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 3.7 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 St. Cloud?
3.7 violent and 29.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Minnesota reports 3.0 and 20.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in St. Cloud?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in St. Cloud in 2025?
St. Cloud’s police reported 5 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 6.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is St. Cloud safer than Waite Park?
Waite Park reports more crime per resident than St. Cloud: Waite Park grades D for safety and St. Cloud D. Waite Park’s police reported 1.9 violent and 51.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices St. Cloud?
St. Cloud’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “St. Cloud”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in St. Cloud.
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.