The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Cooper County, MO
Cooper County is home to 16,800 residents and includes Boonville and Pilot Grove · Updated November 2026
Is Cooper County, MO safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Cooper County has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 88% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Cooper County run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 957 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
88% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Cooper County as a whole, and 12% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Cooper County scores 957.
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 Cooper County, MO at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Cooper 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 Cooper County
More visitors than residents. Cooper County draws more people to work, shop or visit than live in it, so its crimes per resident run higher than its CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ weighs each crime against everyone who spends time here.
The safest and least safe parts of Cooper County
Every part of Cooper County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Cooper County run from A+ to B+; 83% 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 southwest side has the least crime and the Boonville area the most.
Crime rates and types in Cooper County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Cooper County has about 31 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 16% less than the US as a whole and 25% less 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Cooper County, about 50% 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 Cooper County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Cooper County, 2022 to 2024.
In Cooper County, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often on streets and sidewalks: 40% of them, against 18% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (47%)
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 Cooper County compares with nearby counties
Cooper County has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest counties.
Empty homes, jobs and walkability in Cooper County
Two things set Cooper County apart: it has 13.9% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 28 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson, yet burglary runs lower here than that would suggest.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.13.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 95% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 89% 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. 87% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (11 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 76% of Americans
Show all 6
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.42% where people liveUS: 78%Lower 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 Cooper County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
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 77% 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 Cooper County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Cooper County about $843 a year per household, 30% 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 $16 million a year, or $963 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$870,000
$52
Rape
$320,000
$19
Robbery
$27,000
$2
Assault
$2.5 million
$151
Burglary
$300,000
$18
Theft
$700,000
$42
Vehicle theft
$240,000
$14
Arson
$29,000
$2
Vandalism
$510,000
$30
Total
$5.5 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 Cooper 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 Cooper County, MO average a SchoolGrade of C: 40% of students test proficient, against 34% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Cooper County on SchoolGrade
