The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Fort Dodge, IA
Fort Dodge is a city of 27,400 in Webster County, about 45 miles northwest of downtown Ames · Updated November 2026
Is Fort Dodge, IA safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B+, Fort Dodge has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 69% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Fort Dodge run from A+ to D+, so check the map below.
B+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 704 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
31% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Fort Dodge as a whole, and 69% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Fort Dodge scores 704.
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 Fort Dodge, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Fort Dodge, 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 Fort Dodge
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Fort Dodge runs 66% above the US rate, but robberies run 29% below it: 0.44 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Reported rape stands out among B-graded cities. For the typical resident of a B-graded US city, the figure is 0.42 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; Fort Dodge has 1.3.
The safest and least safe parts of Fort Dodge
Most of Fort Dodge grades well: 71% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 3% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Fort Dodge run from A+ to D+; 28% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
71%26%
A or B 71%C 26%D or F 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Fort Dodge, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Fort Dodge?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Fort Dodge is up 97% and property crime is down 12%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 5.3 to 10 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 36 to 31 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 54%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Fort DodgeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Fort Dodge. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Fort Dodge
Violent, US
Property, Fort Dodge
Property, US
2016
+11%
+4%
+14%
+15%
2017
+17%
+4%
+24%
+12%
2018
+19%
+0%
+18%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+36%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
-11%
+6%
-34%
-10%
2022
-1%
+5%
-15%
-6%
2023
+28%
+2%
-8%
-7%
2024
+97%
-4%
-12%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Fort Dodge
CrimeGrade™ estimates Fort Dodge has about 62 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 66% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for Iowa.
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 36% of crime reported in Fort Dodge. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does far 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 Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Fort Dodge, 67% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 31% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (67%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (46%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (31%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (60%)
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 Fort Dodge compares with nearby cities
Fort Dodge has the most crime of its 1 nearest cities.
Parking lots, empty homes and walkability in Fort Dodge
One thing sets Fort Dodge apart: it has 4.1 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally. 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.4.1 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 95% 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.9.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 84% 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (17 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 52% 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.12.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 74% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.53 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 68% 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.85% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 66% 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 Fort Dodge
Crime costs Fort Dodge about $1,853 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 54% more 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 $68 million a year, or $2,489 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$60
Rape
$2.2 million
$79
Robbery
$380,000
$14
Assault
$8.5 million
$311
Burglary
$940,000
$34
Theft
$3.1 million
$115
Vehicle theft
$1.2 million
$44
Arson
$270,000
$10
Vandalism
$2.0 million
$73
Total
$20 million
$740
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 Fort Dodge 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 Fort Dodge, IA average a SchoolGrade of D-: 61% of students test proficient, against 52% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in Fort Dodge on SchoolGrade
