Southgate is a city of 29,400 in Wayne County, about 12 miles southwest of downtown Detroit · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Southgate?
Southgate earns a B+ for property crime, with more property crime than the neighborhoods where 60% of Americans live. Theft makes up 57% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades A, and vehicle theft grades A-.
B+
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 756 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
40% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Southgate as a whole, and 60% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Southgate scores 756.
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 Southgate, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Southgate, 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 Southgate
Car thefts happen in parking lots and garages far more often than nationally. In Southgate, 50% of reported car thefts happen in parking lots and garages, against 23% nationally.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Southgate
Every part of Southgate where people live grades A or B for property crime on the national scale. Property crime grades across Southgate run from A to B-.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Southgate?
Reported property crime in Southgate has fallen 21% since 2019. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 25 to 20 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
SouthgateUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Southgate. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Southgate
Property, US
2016
+17%
+15%
2017
+5%
+12%
2018
+7%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-33%
-8%
2021
-21%
-10%
2022
-23%
-6%
2023
-20%
-7%
2024
-21%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Southgate
CrimeGrade™ estimates Southgate has about 26 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 8% more than the US as a whole and 37% more than Michigan.
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 Southgate, about 57% of the total, followed by vandalism and vehicle theft.
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 Southgate
Southgate has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Southgate, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (50%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Southgate and nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Southgate, 7 have less property crime. Grosse Ile and Trenton have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Southgate. 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, Southgate has more property crime than 71% of them.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Southgate
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Southgate apart: it has a Walk Grade of C- (31 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 28 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Even so, 56% of residents in Southgate live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Very walkable places tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 92% of US city residents
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Southgate: D+ (20 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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.C- (31 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 76% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 75% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.4 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 72% 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 Southgate
Property crime costs Southgate about $5.3 million a year, or $181 per resident and about $391 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
$460,000
$16
Theft
$2.2 million
$75
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$43
Arson
$16,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$46
Total
$5.3 million
$181
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.
