Thief River Falls Public Library · Photo: Andrew Filer · Public domainPer resident, Thief River Falls records about as much crime as the typical place among U.S. towns
Overall, Thief River Falls grades B− for safety (#96 of 166 graded towns in Minnesota): close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported in 2023–2025. The local count comes to 1.7 violent crimes and 12.0 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 3.0 and 20.2 in the rest of 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 Thief River Falls
A college town
Thief River Falls is home to Northland Community and Technical College, with 1,562 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 4% 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
Thief River Falls has 8,568 jobs based in town for 8,799 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 Thief River Falls’ grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Violent crime holds Thief River Falls’ grade up; property crime pulls it down. Its property rate (12.0) 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Thief River Falls | Rest of Minnesota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Thief River Falls’ police reported 44 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.7 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 Thief River Falls 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 2 violent crimes, 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 | Thief River Falls property | Rest of Minnesota property | Thief River Falls violent | Rest of Minnesota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 22.0 | 24.8 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| 2023 | 13.5 | 21.8 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 14.0 | 20.6 | 0.9 | 3.1 |
| 2025 | 8.3 | 18.2 | 2.2 | 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.
92 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.
19 violent and 73 property, as reported to the FBI by Thief River Falls’ police.
No one died in a crash on Thief River Falls’s roads in 2019–2023
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 Thief River Falls’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Thief River Falls’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Thief River Falls and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thief River Falls | B− | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| Rocksbury Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Rocksbury Township has no FBI figures of its own for 2023–2025.
Minnesota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thief River Falls | B− | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| East Grand Forks | A | 0.9 | 2.9 |
| St. Francis | B+ | 1.4 | 6.5 |
| Waseca | B− | 1.7 | 11.1 |
| Baxter | C | 1.5 | 24.5 |
| Waite Park | D | 1.9 | 51.2 |
The five graded Minnesota towns closest to Thief River Falls’ population (8,799), 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 Thief River Falls. 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 Thief River Falls’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (8,764 in 2025); our figure for Thief River Falls is 8,799 (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 Thief River Falls
Is Thief River Falls, MN safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Thief River Falls reports less crime per resident than 50% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #96 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 Thief River Falls?
1.7 violent and 12.0 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.
Who polices Thief River Falls?
Thief River Falls’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Thief River Falls”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Thief River Falls.
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.