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Staples City HallPhoto: MayorMetz · CC BY-SA 3.0
C+
Safety in Staples · FBI data, 2023–2025

Reported crime per resident in Staples fell 79% from 2023 to 2025

Overall, Staples grades C+ for safety (#116 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota): more crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported to the FBI in 2023–2025.

Violent crime
1.2
per 1,000 a year · Well below rest of MN (3.0)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 3.6
Property crime
18.0
per 1,000 a year · Below rest of MN (20.2)
U.S. (FBI national estimate) 17.6
Crimes reported
176
11 violent · 165 property
2023–2025
Trend
▼ Falling
2023 to 2025
beyond ordinary swings

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 · In brief

What stands out about safety in Staples

A job center

Staples has 2,046 jobs based in town for 3,074 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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Staples’ grade

Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Staples’ grade up; property crime pulls it down.

Where Staples sits
B Violent 1.2C Property 18.0
All U.S. towns we grade (7,426)Less crime than 40%
More reported crimeLess reported crime
Minnesota towns we grade (166)Less crime than 30% · #116 of 166
Places of 1,000–5,000 people (2,448)Less crime than 30%
A fairly firm grade. Built on 176 reported crimes over three years. Ordinary swings could put Staples anywhere from C to B−.

How TownRatings grades safety →

Trend

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
YearStaples propertyRest of Minnesota propertyStaples violentRest of Minnesota violent
202211.824.80.33.4
202331.821.81.63.1
202415.520.61.63.1
20256.818.20.32.7

Crimes per 1,000 residents

Violent crime

Violent crime, by year and by type

Staples’ police reported 11 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Minnesota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.

1,000 neighbors · one year

For every 1,000 residents, about 7 property crimes reported

And fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.

Property crime (6.8)Violent crime (0.3)Everyone else

Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Staples0.3
Rest of MN2.7
U.S. (FBI)3.3

Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025

Staples6.8
Rest of MN18.2
U.S. (FBI)15.5

Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.

What gets reported

22 crimes reported in 2025

1 violent and 21 property, as reported to the FBI by Staples’ police.

2025 offenses reported

Larceny / theft15
Burglary5
Vehicle theft1
Aggravated assault1
Robbery0
Rape0
Homicide0
Arson0
1
violent crimes
21
property crimes

Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.

On the roads

One person died in crashes on Staples’s roads in 2019–2023

Staples had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person died.

That is about what is typical for Minnesota towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (4.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Staples’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Staples’s own rate (8.8) is context, not a ranking.

1
people died in crashes, 2019–2023
0
pedestrians among them
0
cyclists among them
8.8
per 100,000 a year · Minnesota towns of 2,500–5,000: 4.7

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.

Next door

Staples and its neighbors

How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.

Staples Township: not gradedThomastown Township: not gradedVillard Township: not gradedStaples TownshipThomastown TownshipVillard TownshipStaples
A rangeB rangeC rangeD rangeNot graded
TownGradeViolentProperty
StaplesC+1.218.0

Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Minnesota towns of a similar size

TownGradeViolentProperty
StaplesC+1.218.0
ChatfieldA+0.00.0
Blue EarthB+1.92.9
ProctorB+0.97.5
ElyB1.97.7
MilacaC+1.615.0

The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Staples’ population (3,074), by grade.

How to read these numbers

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 Staples. 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 Staples’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
  • Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,090 in 2025); our figure for Staples is 3,074 (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 Staples

Is Staples, MN safe?

On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Staples reports more crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #116 of 166 in Minnesota. Its police reported 1.2 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 Staples?

1.2 violent and 18.0 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 crime going up or down in Staples?

Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.

Who polices Staples?

Staples’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Staples”. Its figures are the ones on this page.

Heads-up board

Neighbors looking out for each other in Staples.

Town Square →
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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.