The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Brooklyn Center, MN
Brooklyn Center is a city of 32,000 in Hennepin County, about 7 miles north of downtown Minneapolis · Updated November 2026
Is Brooklyn Center, MN safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Brooklyn Center has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Brooklyn Center run from A- to B-, so check the map below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 664 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Brooklyn Center as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Brooklyn Center scores 664.
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 Brooklyn Center, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Brooklyn Center, 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 Brooklyn Center
Robberies run high for a B-graded city. Brooklyn Center has 1.9 robberies a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 0.63.
Car thefts and reported rapes both run high. In Brooklyn Center, each runs at more than double the US rate: 7.1 car thefts and 1.0 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 0.38 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Brooklyn Center
Every part of Brooklyn Center where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Brooklyn Center run from A- to B-; every part of Brooklyn Center has more crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Brooklyn Center, the southwest side has the least crime and the northwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Brooklyn Center?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Brooklyn Center is up 89% and property crime is down 35%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.5 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 40 to 26 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 10%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Brooklyn CenterUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Brooklyn Center. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Brooklyn Center
Violent, US
Property, Brooklyn Center
Property, US
2016
+3%
+4%
-13%
+15%
2017
+15%
+4%
-14%
+12%
2018
+8%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+24%
+4%
-16%
-8%
2021
+56%
+6%
-16%
-10%
2022
+73%
+5%
-24%
-6%
2023
+111%
+2%
-39%
-7%
2024
+89%
-4%
-35%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Brooklyn Center
CrimeGrade™ estimates Brooklyn Center has about 51 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 38% more than the US as a whole and 71% more than Minnesota.
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.
Theft makes up about 30% of crime reported in Brooklyn Center. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Brooklyn Center
Brooklyn Center has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Brooklyn Center, 55% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 44% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Parking lots and garages (41%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (44%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Parking lots and garages (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (44%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (53%)
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 Brooklyn Center compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Brooklyn Center, 8 have less crime. New Brighton and Fridley have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Brooklyn Center. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Brooklyn Center has more crime than 87% of them.
Night lighting, transit and walkability in Brooklyn Center
Two things set Brooklyn Center apart: it has 12 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 3.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery, and they run 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 and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Brooklyn Center: C- (29 of 100).12 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 87% 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 and assault. 72% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 63% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.3.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 82% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 76% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 73% 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 crime costs Brooklyn Center
Crime costs Brooklyn Center about $1,761 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 46% more than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $52 million a year, or $1,614 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$970,000
$30
Rape
$2.0 million
$63
Robbery
$1.9 million
$59
Assault
$5.5 million
$172
Burglary
$950,000
$30
Theft
$2.5 million
$79
Vehicle theft
$3.5 million
$109
Arson
$66,000
$2
Vandalism
$2.1 million
$66
Total
$20 million
$610
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 Brooklyn Center 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 Brooklyn Center, MN average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 32% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Brooklyn Center on SchoolGrade
