Fargo is the largest city in North Dakota, with 132,000 residents in Cass County · Updated November 2026
Is Fargo, ND safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Fargo has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 72% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent and property crime both grade B here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Fargo run from A+ to D-, so check the map or the safest and least safe neighborhoods below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 675 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
28% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Fargo as a whole, and 72% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Fargo scores 675.
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 Fargo, ND at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Fargo, 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 Fargo
Burglaries run high for a B-graded city. Fargo has 7.6 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 2.7.
Car thefts run high in Hawthorne, Clara Barton & Downtown Fargo. In this part of east Fargo, they run at more than double the rate in the rest of Fargo.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Fargo, 64% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Fargo
Low crime is the norm across Fargo: 76% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 4% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Fargo run from A+ to D-; 13% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
76%20%
A or B 76%C 20%D or F 4%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
1Osgood, Amber Valley & Woodhaven, southwestCar thefts run at about half the rate in the rest of Fargo.A-785
2Brunsdale, Bennett & Southpointe, southBurglaries run about 40% lower here than in the rest of Fargo.B+741
3River Drive, southeastClose to the rest of Fargo on most crimes.B+732
4Northport, Washington & Horace Mann, northeastCar thefts run about 60% higher here than in the rest of Fargo.B665
5North Dakota State University & Madison-Unicorn Park, northBurglaries run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Fargo.B625
6Village West, West Acres & Willow Park, westCar thefts run about 30% higher here than in the rest of Fargo.B-611
7Hawthorne, Clara Barton & Downtown Fargo, eastAggravated assaults run about 70% higher here than in the rest of Fargo.C+514
8Jefferson-Carl Ben & Lewis and Clark, centralCar thefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Fargo.C432
Neighborhood areas of Fargo, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Is crime going up in Fargo?
Reported violent crime in Fargo peaked in 2022 and has fallen 18% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is up 15% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.7 to 5.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 32 to 37 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
FargoUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Fargo. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Fargo
Violent, US
Property, Fargo
Property, US
2016
-16%
+4%
+1%
+15%
2017
-13%
+4%
-0%
+12%
2018
-10%
+0%
-1%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+1%
+4%
+10%
-8%
2021
+10%
+6%
+35%
-10%
2022
+30%
+5%
+26%
-6%
2023
+12%
+2%
+22%
-7%
2024
+6%
-4%
+15%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Fargo
CrimeGrade™ estimates Fargo has about 72 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 95% more than the US as a whole and 88% more than North 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.
Theft makes up about 37% of crime reported in Fargo. Assault is less common but 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 Fargo
Fargo has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Fargo, 75% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (75%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (52%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (64%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (56%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (41%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (61%)
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.
Two things set Fargo apart: it has 5.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 80 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.5.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 98% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.80 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 92% 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. 66% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.C- (28 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 78% of US city residents
Show all 6
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 80% 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.31% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
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.100% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 69% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Fargo on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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 Fargo
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Fargo about $1,688 a year per household, 40% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $95 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $245 million a year, or $1,857 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$8.6 million
$65
Rape
$8.3 million
$63
Robbery
$3.2 million
$24
Assault
$32 million
$245
Burglary
$9.0 million
$68
Theft
$18 million
$137
Vehicle theft
$7.4 million
$56
Arson
$330,000
$3
Vandalism
$7.7 million
$58
Total
$95 million
$720
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 Fargo 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 Fargo, ND average a SchoolGrade of C-: 41% of students test proficient, against 42% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Fargo on SchoolGrade
