The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Brown County, SD
Brown County is home to 37,900 residents and includes Aberdeen and Groton · Updated November 2026
Is Brown County, SD safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Brown County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 91% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Brown County run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 963 of 1,000Safer than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
91% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Brown County as a whole, and 9% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Brown County scores 963.
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 Brown County, SD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Brown 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 Brown County
Car thefts are uncommon. Brown County has car thefts at less than half the US rate: 0.94 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Brown County
Every part of Brown County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Brown County run from A+ to B+; 74% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the southeast side has the least crime and the Aberdeen area the most.
Is crime going up in Brown County?
Reported crime in Brown County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 45% and property crime down 35%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.6 to 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 18 to 12 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 42% and property crime fell 20%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Brown CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Brown County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Brown County
Violent, US
Property, Brown County
Property, US
2016
-18%
+4%
-2%
+15%
2017
-41%
+4%
+6%
+12%
2018
-19%
+0%
-5%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-7%
+4%
-33%
-8%
2021
-18%
+6%
-0%
-10%
2022
-23%
+5%
-21%
-6%
2023
-6%
+2%
-18%
-7%
2024
-45%
-4%
-35%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Brown County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Brown County has about 32 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 14% less than the US as a whole and 16% less than South Dakota.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in Brown County is assault, about 46% of the total. It also makes up 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 Brown County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Brown County, 2022 to 2024.
In Brown County, 72% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 52% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (72%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (40%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (52%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (45%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (68%)
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 Brown County compares with nearby counties
Brown County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
One thing sets Brown County apart: it has 7% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.12.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 88% 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 Brown 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. 77% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (19 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 60% of Americans
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.9.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 82% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 77% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 72% 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 Brown County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Brown County about $775 a year per household, 36% less 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 $35 million a year, or $935 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.3 million
$35
Rape
$1.0 million
$27
Robbery
$37,000
$1
Assault
$5.8 million
$152
Burglary
$670,000
$18
Theft
$1.6 million
$43
Vehicle theft
$550,000
$14
Arson
$78,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$38
Total
$12 million
$330
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 Brown 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. Brown County is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Brown County, SD average a SchoolGrade of B+: 53% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Brown County on SchoolGrade
