The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Delta County, MI
Delta County is home to 36,800 residents and includes Escanaba and Gladstone · Updated November 2026
Is Delta County, MI safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Delta County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 83% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Delta County run from A+ to B+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 943 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
83% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Delta County as a whole, and 17% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Delta County scores 943.
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 Delta County, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Delta 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 Delta County
Reported rapes run high, though crime overall runs low. Crime overall in Delta County runs 30% below the US rate, but reported rapes run at about double that rate: 0.80 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.38 nationally.
Car thefts and burglaries both run low. In Delta County, each runs at less than half the US rate: 0.89 car thefts and 0.83 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.4 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Delta County
Every part of Delta County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Delta County run from A+ to B+; 77% 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.
Cities and towns in Delta County with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the east side has the least crime and the Escanaba area the most.
Is crime going up in Delta County?
Reported violent crime in Delta County peaked in 2022 and has fallen 13% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 1% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.3 to 2.2 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 9.1 to 9.0 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Delta CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Delta County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Delta County
Violent, US
Property, Delta County
Property, US
2016
-17%
+4%
+100%
+15%
2017
-49%
+4%
+79%
+12%
2018
-24%
+0%
+35%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-8%
+4%
+12%
-8%
2021
-33%
+6%
-9%
-10%
2022
+8%
+5%
-10%
-6%
2023
-14%
+2%
-2%
-7%
2024
-6%
-4%
-1%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Delta County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Delta County has about 26 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% less than the US as a whole and 25% less than 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.
Theft is the most common crime in Delta County, about 43% 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.
How Delta County compares with nearby counties
Delta County has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest counties. Florence County, WI and Door County, WI have the least crime nearby.
Night lighting, density and walkability in Delta County
Two things set Delta County apart: it has 42% of the land where people live lit at night, against 78% nationally, and 3% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and vandalism, and they run low 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.42% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 88% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.3% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 87% 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. 78% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 55% 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 Delta 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.35 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 76% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.10.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 60% 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 Delta County
Crime costs Delta County about $693 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 43% 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 $39 million a year, or $1,071 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.2 million
$59
Rape
$1.8 million
$48
Robbery
$71,000
$2
Assault
$3.3 million
$89
Burglary
$270,000
$7
Theft
$2.1 million
$58
Vehicle theft
$500,000
$14
Arson
$170,000
$5
Vandalism
$950,000
$26
Total
$11 million
$307
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 Delta 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 Delta County, MI average a SchoolGrade of B+: 43% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Delta County on SchoolGrade
