Rochester is the third-largest city in Minnesota, with 131,700 residents in Olmsted County · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Rochester?
Property crime in Rochester is a little lower than in most US neighborhoods: an A, safer than the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live. Theft makes up 59% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A, and vehicle theft grades A+.
A
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 874 of 1,000Less property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
61% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Rochester as a whole, and 39% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rochester scores 874.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Rochester, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rochester, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Rochester
Car thefts run high in Kutzky Park, Northrup Rochester & Historic Southwest. In this part of central Rochester, they run at about triple the rate in the rest of Rochester.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Rochester
Low property crime is the norm across Rochester: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Property crime grades across Rochester run from A+ to C.
98%
A or B 98%C 2%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1North River Court, northeastBurglaries run at about half the rate in the rest of Rochester.A+929
2Meadow Park & Slatterly Park, southeastClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A881
3Elton Hills, John Adams & Viking Park, northClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A870
4Apple Hill, southClose to the rest of Rochester on most crimes.A861
5Cimarron, Northwest Rochester & Lincolnshire-Arbor Glen, northwestThefts run about 80% higher here than in the rest of Rochester.A849
6East Side Pioneers, eastBurglaries run about 40% higher here than in the rest of Rochester.A-844
7Kutzky Park, Northrup Rochester & Historic Southwest, centralBurglaries run at more than double the rate in the rest of Rochester.A-803
Neighborhood areas of Rochester, ranked by property crime CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is property crime going up in Rochester?
Reported property crime in Rochester has fallen 28% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 19 to 14 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 15%.
Property crime, change since 2019
RochesterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rochester. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Rochester
Property, US
2016
+16%
+15%
2017
-2%
+12%
2018
+11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
-8%
2021
+8%
-10%
2022
-0%
-6%
2023
-15%
-7%
2024
-28%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Rochester
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rochester has about 18 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 26% less than the US as a whole and 19% less than Minnesota.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Rochester, about 59% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Rochester
Rochester has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Rochester, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 36% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Rochester and nearby cities
Rochester has the most property crime of its 4 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Rochester. Beside each property crime CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Rochester is safer than 85% of them.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Rochester apart: it has 79 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 2.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.79 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 91% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 83% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 81% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 51% of US city residents
Show all 6
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.88% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 63% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.11.1 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 60% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.11% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 58% of US city residents
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Rochester
Property crime costs Rochester about $15 million a year, or $116 per resident and about $288 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$2.0 million
$15
Theft
$7.0 million
$53
Vehicle theft
$1.8 million
$13
Arson
$130,000
$1
Vandalism
$4.4 million
$33
Total
$15 million
$116
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
