Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bismarck reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Bismarck’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C− for safety: #13 of 16 graded towns in North Dakota.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of ND” is every other North Dakota 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 Bismarck
A job center
Bismarck has 50,870 jobs based in town for 77,963 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 Bismarck’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. Its violent rate (2.8) 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.
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 North Dakota.
Show as a table
| Year | Bismarck property | Rest of North Dakota property | Bismarck violent | Rest of North Dakota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 33.6 | 25.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| 2023 | 31.2 | 25.0 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| 2024 | 24.0 | 23.3 | 2.8 | 3.4 |
| 2025 | 18.8 | 20.4 | 2.4 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
For every 1,000 residents, about 19 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Bismarck’s police reported 633 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of North Dakota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Bismarck | Rest of North Dakota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
1,666 crimes reported in 2025
187 violent and 1,479 property, as reported to the FBI by Bismarck’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
16 people died in crashes on Bismarck’s roads in 2019–2023
Bismarck had 16 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died; 6 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for North Dakota towns of 25,000–100,000 people (3.7, 6 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.
Bismarck and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck | C− | 2.8 | 24.5 |
| Hay Creek Township | — | — | — |
| Gibbs Township | — | — | — |
| Apple Creek Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hay Creek Township, Gibbs Township and Apple Creek Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
North Dakota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck | C− | 2.8 | 24.5 |
| West Fargo | B− | 1.8 | 10.9 |
| Minot | C | 3.3 | 13.4 |
| Grand Forks | C− | 3.0 | 22.8 |
| Fargo | D | 4.6 | 36.0 |
The five graded North Dakota towns closest to Bismarck’s population (77,963), 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 Bismarck. 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 Bismarck’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (78,814 in 2025); our figure for Bismarck is 77,963 (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 Bismarck
Is Bismarck, ND safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Bismarck reports more crime per resident than 80% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #13 of 16 in North Dakota. Its police reported 2.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.3 in the rest of North Dakota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Bismarck?
2.8 violent and 24.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of North Dakota reports 3.3 and 22.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Bismarck?
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Bismarck in 2025?
Bismarck’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Who polices Bismarck?
Bismarck’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Bismarck”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Bismarck.
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.