The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Ferndale, MI
Ferndale is a city of 21,600 in Oakland County, about 10 miles northwest of downtown Detroit · Updated November 2026
Is Ferndale, MI safe?
Crime in Ferndale is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 68% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Ferndale. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A- against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ferndale run from A to D+, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 714 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
32% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ferndale as a whole, and 68% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ferndale scores 714.
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 Ferndale, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ferndale, 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 Ferndale
Thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks far more often than nationally. In Ferndale, 46% of reported thefts from cars happen on streets and sidewalks, against 18% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Ferndale
Low crime is the norm across Ferndale: 89% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 6% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Ferndale run from A to D+; 4% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
89%
A or B 89%C 5%D or F 6%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Ferndale, the northwest side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Ferndale?
Reported crime in Ferndale has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 21% and property crime down 33%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.5 to 2.0 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 22 to 15 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 27% and property crime fell 31%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
FerndaleUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Ferndale. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Ferndale
Violent, US
Property, Ferndale
Property, US
2016
-11%
+4%
+25%
+15%
2017
-14%
+4%
-6%
+12%
2018
-22%
+0%
-23%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+2%
+4%
-27%
-8%
2021
-44%
+6%
-26%
-10%
2022
+5%
+5%
-8%
-6%
2023
+8%
+2%
-2%
-7%
2024
-21%
-4%
-33%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Ferndale
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ferndale has about 39 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 6% more than the US as a whole and close to 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Ferndale, 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 Ferndale
Ferndale has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Ferndale, 54% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (54%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (38%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Streets and sidewalks (46%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (33%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (43%)
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 Ferndale compares with nearby cities
Ferndale has more crime than 7 of its 10 nearest cities. Berkley and Huntington Woods have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Ferndale apart: it has 18.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and a Walk Grade of B- (51 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft; here theft sits near the national middle.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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.B- (51 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 92% 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 92% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 77% 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 Ferndale: C- (27 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 59% 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.5.3% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 56% 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 Ferndale
Crime costs Ferndale about $886 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 26% 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 $28 million a year, or $1,319 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$75
Rape
$480,000
$22
Robbery
$250,000
$11
Assault
$4.2 million
$193
Burglary
$340,000
$16
Theft
$1.1 million
$51
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$56
Arson
$26,000
$1
Vandalism
$530,000
$25
Total
$9.7 million
$450
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 Ferndale 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 Ferndale, MI average a SchoolGrade of F: 20% of students test proficient, against 20% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Ferndale on SchoolGrade
