Photo: Gary Chancey, Black Hills National Forest · Public domainLead reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Lead’s police in 2023–2025, it grades B+ for safety: #3 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 stands out about safety in Lead
Lead reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 1 South Dakota towns on Lead’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Deadwood (D). Neighbors ↓
Among South Dakota towns, higher
South Dakota’s cities and towns report more crime than most states’, so Lead’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 87% of the 23 South Dakota towns we grade, against 71% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Lead’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 lower than in most U.S. towns; property crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Lead’s police reported 14 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.5 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 | Lead | Rest of South Dakota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 6 property crimes reported
And about 1 violent crime, 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, 2023–2025, against the rest of South Dakota.
Show as a table
| Year | Lead property | Rest of South Dakota property | Lead violent | Rest of South Dakota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4.9 | 23.3 | 2.3 | 4.2 |
| 2024 | 3.9 | 23.0 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 6.2 | 19.3 | 0.7 | 3.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
21 crimes reported in 2025
2 violent and 19 property, as reported to the FBI by Lead’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
No one died in a crash on Lead’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for South Dakota towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (0.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Lead’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Lead’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.
Lead and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Lead. 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 Lead’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (3,053 in 2025); our figure for Lead is 3,064 (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 Lead
Is Lead, SD safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Lead reports less crime per resident than 71% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #3 of 23 in South Dakota. Its police reported 1.5 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 Lead?
1.5 violent and 5.0 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 Lead?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Is Lead safer than Deadwood?
Deadwood reports more crime per resident than Lead: Deadwood grades D for safety and Lead B+. Deadwood’s police reported 6.3 violent and 24.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Lead?
Lead’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Lead”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Lead.
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.