The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Bay County, MI
Bay County is home to 103,000 residents and includes Bay City and Essexville · Updated November 2026
Is Bay County, MI safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Bay County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 63% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Bay County run from A+ to C, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 887 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
63% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Bay County as a whole, and 37% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Bay County scores 887.
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 crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime 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 Bay County, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Bay County, 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 in Bay County
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Bay County, 65% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
Car thefts and burglaries both run low. In Bay County, each runs at about half the US rate: 1.2 car thefts and 1.2 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.4 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Bay County
Low crime is the norm across Bay County: 91% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Bay County run from A+ to C; 69% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
91%
A or B 91%C 9%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Bay County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the southwest side has the least crime and the Bay City area the most.
Is crime going up in Bay County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Bay County is down 38%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.0 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 13 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 20%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Bay CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Bay County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Bay County
Violent, US
Property, Bay County
Property, US
2016
-5%
+4%
+49%
+15%
2017
-4%
+4%
+51%
+12%
2018
-10%
+0%
+9%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-4%
+4%
-15%
-8%
2021
-11%
+6%
-14%
-10%
2022
-23%
+5%
-24%
-6%
2023
-23%
+2%
-7%
-7%
2024
-38%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Bay County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Bay County has about 27 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 28% less than the US as a whole and 22% less than Michigan.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault is the most common crime in Bay County, about 43% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. 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 crime happens in Bay County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Bay County, 2022 to 2024.
In Bay County, 70% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (70%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (57%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (65%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (54%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (63%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Bay County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Bay County, 8 have less crime. Ogemaw County and Huron County have the least.
Two things set Bay County apart: it has 30 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 5% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, and they run low here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.30 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 87% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Bay County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
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. 75% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (20 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of Americans
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.5% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 80% of Americans
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.59% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 79% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 60% of Americans
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 crime costs Bay County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Bay County about $714 a year per household, 41% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $32 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $103 million a year, or $1,001 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$5.3 million
$51
Rape
$3.3 million
$32
Robbery
$450,000
$4
Assault
$12 million
$120
Burglary
$1.1 million
$11
Theft
$4.2 million
$41
Vehicle theft
$2.0 million
$19
Arson
$460,000
$4
Vandalism
$2.9 million
$28
Total
$32 million
$312
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Bay County means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
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.
Schools in Bay County, MI average a SchoolGrade of C+: 39% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Bay County on SchoolGrade
