The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Grand Rapids, MI
The Grand Rapids metro area, the 50th-largest in the US, is home to 1.16 million residents; Grand Rapids itself is the second-largest city in Michigan · Updated November 2026
Is Grand Rapids, MI safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in the Grand Rapids area is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so the Grand Rapids area sits near the middle: 52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. The city of Grand Rapids itself grades B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Grand Rapids area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 847 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Grand Rapids area as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Grand Rapids area scores 847.
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 Grand Rapids, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Grand Rapids area, 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 the Grand Rapids area
One part of Grand Rapids stands out for robbery. Robberies in Garfield Park, in south Grand Rapids, run at more than triple the rate in the rest of the city.
Murder is less common here. The Grand Rapids area has about 27 murders a year, a rate less than half the national one.
The safest and most dangerous places in the Grand Rapids area
Most of the Grand Rapids area grades well: 89% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 4% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Grand Rapids area run from A+ to F; 64% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
89%
A or B 89%C 7%D or F 4%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Grand Rapids
1Norteast Citizens Action, northeastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.A861
2Eastown, Fulton Heights & Michgan Oaks, eastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.A-819
3Millbrook, South East End & Ridgemoor, southeastRobberies run at less than half the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.B+769
4West Grand & Westside, northwestClose to the rest of Grand Rapids on most crimes.B649
5Creston, northThefts run about 50% higher here than in the rest of Grand Rapids.B-584
8Roosevelt Park, southwestRobberies run at about triple the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.C-315
9Garfield Park, southThefts run at more than double the rate in the rest of Grand Rapids.D164
Neighborhood areas of the city of Grand Rapids, 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.
Cities and towns in the Grand Rapids metro area 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 area, the Hastings, Portland, and Delton areas have the least crime and the downtown Grand Rapids area the most.
Crime rates and types in the Grand Rapids area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Grand Rapids area has about 33 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% less 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 the Grand Rapids area, about 46% 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 the Grand Rapids area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Grand Rapids area, 2022 to 2024.
In the Grand Rapids area, 59% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 34% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (59%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Car theft
Homes (33%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Homes (34%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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 the Grand Rapids area compares with nearby metro areas
The Grand Rapids area has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Madison area has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Grand Rapids area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Grand Rapids area is safer than 73% of them.
Empty homes, night lighting and density in the Grand Rapids area
Two things set the Grand Rapids area apart: it has 3.4% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally, and 12% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less burglary, and it runs low here.
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.3.4% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 99% of Americans in metro areas
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.66% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% of Americans in metro areas
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.12% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 70% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Grand Rapids area: D- (8 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 60% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Grand Rapids area
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs the Grand Rapids area about $1,002 a year per household, 17% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $431 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 $1.33 billion a year, or $1,146 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$50 million
$43
Rape
$44 million
$38
Robbery
$10 million
$9
Assault
$191 million
$164
Burglary
$14 million
$12
Theft
$60 million
$52
Vehicle theft
$27 million
$23
Arson
$2.5 million
$2
Vandalism
$33 million
$28
Total
$431 million
$371
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 the Grand Rapids area 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. These figures cover the whole Grand Rapids metro area. 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
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 the Grand Rapids area average a SchoolGrade of B: 45% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in the Grand Rapids area on SchoolGrade
