Photo: Bradleygee · CC BY-SA 2.0Belle Fourche reports more crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Belle Fourche’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C+ for safety: #12 of 23 graded towns in South Dakota.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of SD” is every other South 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’s behind Belle Fourche’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 (2.2) 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 (14.3) 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
Belle Fourche’s police reported 39 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.2 per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of South Dakota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Belle Fourche | Rest of South Dakota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.2 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.5 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 8 property crimes reported
And about 3 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.
Reported crime is steady
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 South Dakota.
Show as a table
| Year | Belle Fourche property | Rest of South Dakota property | Belle Fourche violent | Rest of South Dakota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.8 | 25.7 | 1.2 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 11.9 | 23.3 | 2.5 | 4.2 |
| 2024 | 23.0 | 22.9 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 7.8 | 19.3 | 2.5 | 3.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
61 crimes reported in 2025
15 violent and 46 property, as reported to the FBI by Belle Fourche’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
Two people died in crashes on Belle Fourche’s roads in 2019–2023
Belle Fourche had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for South Dakota towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Belle Fourche’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Belle Fourche’s own rate (6.9) 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.
Belle Fourche and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Fourche | C+ | 2.2 | 14.3 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
South Dakota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Fourche | C+ | 2.2 | 14.3 |
| Hot Springs | A | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Lead | B+ | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Madison | B | 1.4 | 8.0 |
| Tea | B | 1.4 | 10.3 |
| Sturgis | C− | 3.2 | 21.5 |
The five graded South Dakota towns closest to Belle Fourche’s population (5,791), 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 Belle Fourche. 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 Belle Fourche’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (5,908 in 2025); our figure for Belle Fourche is 5,791 (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 Belle Fourche
Is Belle Fourche, SD safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Belle Fourche reports more crime per resident than 60% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #12 of 23 in South Dakota. Its police reported 2.2 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 4.0 in the rest of South Dakota and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Belle Fourche?
2.2 violent and 14.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Dakota reports 4.0 and 21.8; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Belle Fourche?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Belle Fourche?
Belle Fourche’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Belle Fourche”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Belle Fourche.
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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.