McFarland House · Photo: James Steakley · CC BY-SA 3.0Violent crime per resident is lower in McFarland than in 80% of U.S. towns
The rate the grade counts held about level from 2023 to 2025. The grade is A−, built on crimes McFarland’s police reported from 2023 to 2025: #52 of 175 graded towns in Wisconsin. The yearly rates were 0.6 violent crime and 6.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 3.6 and 15.0 in the rest of Wisconsin.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WI” is every other Wisconsin 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 McFarland
McFarland reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 5 Wisconsin towns on McFarland’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Madison (C). Dunn, Blooming Grove, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Springs have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind McFarland’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; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | McFarland | Rest of Wisconsin | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
McFarland’s police reported 18 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in McFarland 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 fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | McFarland property | Rest of Wisconsin property | McFarland violent | Rest of Wisconsin violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.5 | 18.2 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.8 | 16.0 | 0.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 8.2 | 15.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 6.5 | 13.5 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
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 Wisconsin.
64 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.
4 violent and 60 property, as reported to the FBI by McFarland’s police.
Three people died in crashes on McFarland’s roads in 2019–2023
McFarland had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died.
That is about what is typical for Wisconsin towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of McFarland’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so McFarland’s own rate (6.6) 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.
McFarland and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| McFarland | A− | 0.6 | 6.8 |
| Dunn | — | — | — |
| Madison | C | 2.6 | 20.2 |
| Blooming Grove | — | — | — |
| Cottage Grove | — | — | — |
| Pleasant Springs | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Dunn, Blooming Grove, Cottage Grove and Pleasant Springs have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Wisconsin towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| McFarland | A− | 0.6 | 6.8 |
| Cottage Grove | A | 0.8 | 3.2 |
| St. Francis | B | 1.4 | 10.5 |
| Delavan | B− | 1.7 | 11.4 |
| Altoona | C+ | 0.6 | 21.0 |
| Merrill | C | 2.0 | 22.7 |
The five graded Wisconsin towns closest to McFarland’s population (9,145), 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 McFarland. 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 McFarland’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (9,266 in 2025); our figure for McFarland is 9,145 (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 McFarland
Is McFarland, WI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, McFarland reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, an A− Safety Grade and #52 of 175 in Wisconsin. Its police reported 0.6 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in McFarland?
0.6 violent and 6.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Wisconsin reports 3.6 and 15.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is McFarland safer than Madison?
Madison reports more crime per resident than McFarland: Madison grades C for safety and McFarland A−. Madison’s police reported 2.6 violent and 20.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices McFarland?
McFarland’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “McFarland”. 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 McFarland.
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.