Buena Vista is a township of 6,000 in Saginaw County, about 2 miles east of downtown Saginaw · Updated November 2026
Is Buena Vista, MI safe?
Crime in Buena Vista is high, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of D. Most US neighborhoods have far less: 90% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Buena Vista. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against F. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Buena Vista run from B to F, so check the map below.
D
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 225 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
10% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Buena Vista as a whole, and 90% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Buena Vista scores 225.
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 Buena Vista, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Buena Vista, 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 Buena Vista
Reported rapes run high for a D-graded city. Buena Vista has 1.8 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a D-graded US city, the figure is 0.43.
Aggravated assault at more than triple the US rate. Buena Vista has 11.8 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.6 nationally.
Crime rates and types in Buena Vista
CrimeGrade™ estimates Buena Vista has about 72 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 94% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for 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.
The largest share of crime reported in Buena Vista is assault, about 53% 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 Buena Vista
Buena Vista has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Buena Vista, 79% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 50% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (79%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (50%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (72%)
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 Buena Vista compares with nearby cities
Buena Vista has the most crime of its 7 nearest cities.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Buena Vista
Two things set Buena Vista apart: it has 6.6 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 20.6% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.6.6 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 99% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.20.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 99% 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. 92% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 70% of US city residents
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.9 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 98% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.NoneUS: 24%Lower than for 97% 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 Buena Vista: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% 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 Buena Vista
Crime costs Buena Vista about $2,980 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, more than double 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 $33 million a year, or $5,430 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.1 million
$352
Rape
$630,000
$105
Robbery
$160,000
$27
Assault
$3.2 million
$530
Burglary
$180,000
$30
Theft
$370,000
$61
Vehicle theft
$400,000
$67
Arson
$78,000
$13
Vandalism
$450,000
$75
Total
$7.6 million
$1,261
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 Buena Vista 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 Buena Vista, MI average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 18% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Buena Vista on SchoolGrade
