Wood County Courthouse · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Wisconsin Rapids than in 84% of U.S. towns
The crimes the grade counts fell 22% per resident from 2023 to 2025. Even so, on crimes Wisconsin Rapids’ police reported from 2023 to 2025, it grades C− for safety: #164 of 175 graded towns in Wisconsin State. The local count comes to 4.3 violent crimes and 19.2 incidents of property crime per 1,000 people each year, with 3.6 and 15.0 in the rest of Wisconsin State.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of WI” is every other Wisconsin State 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 Wisconsin Rapids
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 5 Wisconsin State towns on Wisconsin Rapids’ borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: Grand Rapids (A). Seneca, Port Edwards, Rudolph and Sigel have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Neighbors ↓
Among Wisconsin State towns, lower
Wisconsin State’s cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Wisconsin Rapids’ place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 6% of the 175 Wisconsin State towns we grade, against 19% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Wisconsin Rapids is home to Mid-State Technical College, with 2,254 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 4% 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 ↓
Reported crime is falling
Crime reported per resident fell 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 Wisconsin Rapids’ 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; property crime is the closer of the two to typical.
Reported crime per resident, 2023 to 2025
Show as a table
| Year | Wisconsin Rapids property | Rest of Wisconsin State property | Wisconsin Rapids violent | Rest of Wisconsin State violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20.9 | 18.2 | 4.3 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 20.9 | 16.0 | 5.0 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 18.9 | 15.4 | 5.3 | 3.8 |
| 2025 | 17.7 | 13.5 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident fell from 2023 to 2025, by more than ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Wisconsin State.
Crime in Wisconsin Rapids 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.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Wisconsin Rapids | Rest of Wisconsin State | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Wisconsin Rapids’ police reported 241 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 4.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin State and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
379 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.
49 violent and 330 property, as reported to the FBI by Wisconsin Rapids’ police.
Three people died in crashes on Wisconsin Rapids’s roads in 2019–2023
Wisconsin Rapids had 3 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died.
That is about what is typical for Wisconsin State towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (3.5 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Wisconsin Rapids’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wisconsin Rapids’s own rate (3.2) 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.
Wisconsin Rapids and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Rapids | C− | 4.3 | 19.2 |
| Grand Rapids | A | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Seneca | — | — | — |
| Port Edwards | — | — | — |
| Rudolph | — | — | — |
| Sigel | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Seneca, Port Edwards, Rudolph and Sigel have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025.
Wisconsin State towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Rapids | C− | 4.3 | 19.2 |
| Fox Crossing | A− | 0.8 | 6.7 |
| Kaukauna | B+ | 1.2 | 6.7 |
| River Falls | B+ | 1.2 | 7.5 |
| Menasha | B | 1.8 | 7.5 |
| Marshfield | B− | 2.2 | 10.9 |
The five graded Wisconsin State towns closest to Wisconsin Rapids’ population (18,654), 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 Wisconsin Rapids. 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 Wisconsin Rapids’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (18,631 in 2025); our figure for Wisconsin Rapids is 18,654 (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 Wisconsin Rapids
Is Wisconsin Rapids, WI safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Wisconsin Rapids reports more crime per resident than 81% of U.S. towns, a C− Safety Grade and #164 of 175 in Wisconsin State. Its police reported 4.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.6 in the rest of Wisconsin State and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Wisconsin Rapids?
4.3 violent and 19.2 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Wisconsin State reports 3.6 and 15.0; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Wisconsin Rapids safer than Grand Rapids?
Grand Rapids reports less crime per resident than Wisconsin Rapids: Grand Rapids grades A for safety and Wisconsin Rapids C−. Grand Rapids’s police reported 0.7 violent and 1.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Wisconsin Rapids?
Wisconsin Rapids’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Wisconsin Rapids”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
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Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Wisconsin Rapids.
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.