Houghton Lake Heights is a township of 280 in Roscommon County, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Traverse City · Updated November 2026
Is Houghton Lake Heights, MI safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Houghton Lake Heights has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 77% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A+ against A.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 928 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
77% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Houghton Lake Heights as a whole, and 23% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Houghton Lake Heights scores 928.
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 Houghton Lake Heights, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Houghton Lake Heights, 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
Crime rates and types in Houghton Lake Heights
CrimeGrade™ estimates Houghton Lake Heights has about 46 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 25% more than the US as a whole and 34% more 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Houghton Lake Heights, about 47% of everything reported.
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 Houghton Lake Heights
The Roscommon County Sheriff's Office polices Houghton Lake Heights, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (52%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Houghton Lake Heights compares with nearby cities
Of the 10 cities closest to Houghton Lake Heights, 8 have less crime. Higgins Lake and Prosper have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Houghton Lake Heights. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Houghton Lake Heights has more crime than 93% of them.
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Houghton Lake Heights about $1,415 a year per household, 17% 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 $1.0 million a year, or $3,727 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$93,000
$332
Rape
$31,000
$109
Robbery
$1,100
$4
Assault
$62,000
$220
Burglary
$5,700
$20
Theft
$15,000
$54
Vehicle theft
$9,400
$34
Arson
$1,500
$5
Vandalism
$14,000
$50
Total
$230,000
$828
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 Houghton Lake Heights 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. Houghton Lake Heights is a good example: many people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks worse than its CrimeGrade™ suggests.
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 Houghton Lake Heights, MI average a SchoolGrade of D+: 30% of students test proficient, against 26% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Houghton Lake Heights on SchoolGrade
