Photo: PortlandSaint · CC BY 4.0Reported crime per resident in Milwaukie rose 71% from 2023 to 2025
Weighing it all, Milwaukie earns C+ for safety (#25 of 74 graded towns in Oregon), with close to the middle of U.S. towns, on crimes its police reported over 2023 to 2025. Its police logs show 2.1 violent crimes and 13.6 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents a year, while in the rest of Oregon the numbers are 3.9 and 30.5.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of OR” is every other Oregon 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 Milwaukie
Milwaukie reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 4 Oregon towns on Milwaukie’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Portland (D−). Oak Grove, Oatfield and Dunthorpe are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own. Neighbors ↓
Among Oregon towns, closer to the middle
Oregon’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Milwaukie’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 66% of the 74 Oregon towns we grade, against 42% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Reported crime is rising
Crime reported per resident rose 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 Milwaukie’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 (2.1) 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 (13.6) 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 | Milwaukie property | Rest of Oregon property | Milwaukie violent | Rest of Oregon violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.4 | 36.7 | 1.3 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | 9.5 | 33.0 | 1.5 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 15.3 | 31.0 | 1.9 | 4.0 |
| 2025 | 15.9 | 27.5 | 2.8 | 3.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident rose from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Oregon.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Milwaukie | Rest of Oregon | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Milwaukie’s police reported 135 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.1 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Oregon and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Milwaukie 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 3 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
407 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.
61 violent and 346 property, as reported to the FBI by Milwaukie’s police.
Three people died in crashes on Milwaukie’s roads in 2019–2023
Milwaukie had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died.
That is about what is typical for Oregon towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Milwaukie’s size would see about 4 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Milwaukie’s own rate (2.8) 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.
Milwaukie and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Oak Grove, Oatfield and Dunthorpe are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
Oregon towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukie | C+ | 2.1 | 13.6 |
| Lebanon | B | 1.5 | 9.2 |
| Sherwood | B− | 0.9 | 15.3 |
| Ashland | C+ | 2.1 | 16.0 |
| Klamath Falls | D | 5.1 | 26.3 |
| Roseburg | D | 3.1 | 41.0 |
The five graded Oregon towns closest to Milwaukie’s population (22,114), 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 Milwaukie. 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 Milwaukie’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,734 in 2025); our figure for Milwaukie is 22,114 (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 Milwaukie
Is Milwaukie, OR safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Milwaukie reports more crime per resident than 58% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #25 of 74 in Oregon. Its police reported 2.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.9 in the rest of Oregon and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Milwaukie?
2.1 violent and 13.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Oregon reports 3.9 and 30.5; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Milwaukie safer than Portland?
Portland reports more crime per resident than Milwaukie: Portland grades D− for safety and Milwaukie C+. Portland’s police reported 7.1 violent and 54.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Milwaukie?
Milwaukie’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Milwaukie”. 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 Milwaukie.
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.