The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Buchanan County, MO
Buchanan County is home to 83,600 residents and includes St. Joseph and Agency · Updated November 2026
Is Buchanan County, MO safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Buchanan County has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades A- and property crime B+. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Buchanan County run from A+ to F, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 762 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
38% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Buchanan County as a whole, and 62% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Buchanan County scores 762.
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 Buchanan County, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Buchanan 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 Buchanan County
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Buchanan County runs 75% above the US rate, but robberies run 26% below it: 0.46 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Reported rape stands out among B-graded counties. For the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 0.41 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Buchanan County has 1.7.
The safest and least safe parts of Buchanan County
Low crime is the norm across Buchanan County: 67% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 11% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Buchanan County run from A+ to F; 19% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
67%22%11%
A or B 67%C 22%D or F 11%
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 center the most.
Is crime going up in Buchanan County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Buchanan County is up 17% and property crime is down 36%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.5 to 6.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 53 to 34 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Buchanan CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Buchanan County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Buchanan County
Violent, US
Property, Buchanan County
Property, US
2016
-5%
+4%
+1%
+15%
2017
-4%
+4%
+16%
+12%
2018
+14%
+0%
-13%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
-8%
-8%
2021
+10%
+6%
-26%
-10%
2022
+23%
+5%
-26%
-6%
2023
+23%
+2%
-36%
-7%
2024
+17%
-4%
-36%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Buchanan County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Buchanan County has about 65 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 75% more than the US as a whole and 55% more than Missouri.
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 is the most common crime in Buchanan County, about 37% of everything reported, but assault 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 Buchanan County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Buchanan County, 2022 to 2024.
In Buchanan County, 66% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 38% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (66%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (42%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (34%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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 Buchanan County compares with nearby counties
Buchanan County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Buchanan County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Buchanan County has more crime than 96% of them.
Empty homes, shops and walkability in Buchanan County
One thing sets Buchanan County apart: it has 12.5% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more burglary and arson, and they run high here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.12.5% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 93% of Americans
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 88% 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. 80% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 51% of Americans
Show all 6
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 Buchanan County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.10% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 64% 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 Buchanan County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Buchanan County about $1,773 a year per household, 47% 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 $177 million a year, or $2,122 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$4.9 million
$59
Rape
$8.4 million
$100
Robbery
$1.2 million
$14
Assault
$18 million
$221
Burglary
$3.5 million
$42
Theft
$10 million
$123
Vehicle theft
$6.2 million
$75
Arson
$350,000
$4
Vandalism
$6.7 million
$81
Total
$60 million
$719
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 Buchanan 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 Buchanan County, MO average a SchoolGrade of C: 42% of students test proficient, against 35% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Buchanan County on SchoolGrade
