Photo: "Tichnor Quality Views," Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Made Only by Tichnor Bros., Inc., Boston, Mass. · Public domainMadison reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Madison’s police in 2023–2025, it grades B for safety: #6 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 Madison
A college town
Madison is home to Dakota State University, with 1,489 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 12% 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
Madison has 3,740 jobs based in town for 6,065 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 Madison’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
Madison’s police reported 25 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.4 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 | Madison | Rest of South Dakota | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.3 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.5 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 9 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, 2022–2025, against the rest of South Dakota.
Show as a table
| Year | Madison property | Rest of South Dakota property | Madison violent | Rest of South Dakota violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 6.7 | 25.8 | 1.3 | 4.6 |
| 2023 | 7.3 | 23.3 | 1.6 | 4.2 |
| 2024 | 7.9 | 23.0 | 1.5 | 4.2 |
| 2025 | 8.9 | 19.3 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
60 crimes reported in 2025
6 violent and 54 property, as reported to the FBI by Madison’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
One person died in crashes on Madison’s roads in 2019–2023
Madison had 1 fatal crash in five years, in which one person 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 Madison’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Madison’s own rate (3.3) 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.
Madison and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | B | 1.4 | 8.0 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
South Dakota towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | B | 1.4 | 8.0 |
| Hot Springs | A | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Tea | B | 1.4 | 10.3 |
| Vermillion | B− | 1.9 | 12.7 |
| Belle Fourche | C+ | 2.2 | 14.3 |
| Sturgis | C− | 3.2 | 21.5 |
The five graded South Dakota towns closest to Madison’s population (6,065), 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 Madison. 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 Madison’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (6,068 in 2025); our figure for Madison is 6,065 (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 Madison
Is Madison, SD safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Madison reports less crime per resident than 63% of U.S. towns, a B Safety Grade and #6 of 23 in South Dakota. Its police reported 1.4 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 Madison?
1.4 violent and 8.0 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of South Dakota reports 4.0 and 21.9; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Madison?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
Who polices Madison?
Madison’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Madison”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Madison.
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.