The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Hughes County, SD
Hughes County is home to 17,700 residents and includes Pierre and Blunt · Updated November 2026
Is Hughes County, SD safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Hughes County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 78% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Hughes County run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 932 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
78% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Hughes County as a whole, and 22% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Hughes County scores 932.
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 Hughes County, SD at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Hughes County, 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 Hughes County
Crime per resident runs higher than the grade. Hughes County draws many workers, shoppers and visitors: it has 62 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Crimes against them are counted against the few who live here, so crime per resident looks higher than the CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ counts everyone who spends time here.
The safest and least safe parts of Hughes County
Every part of Hughes County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Hughes County run from A+ to B+; 53% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
100%
A or B 100%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Across the county, the northwest side has the least crime and the southwest side the most.
Is crime going up in Hughes County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Hughes County is up 34% and property crime is down 27%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.3 to 5.7 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 23 to 17 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 16% and property crime fell 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Hughes CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Hughes County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Hughes County
Violent, US
Property, Hughes County
Property, US
2016
+22%
+4%
+63%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
+30%
+12%
2018
+7%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+100%
+4%
+7%
-8%
2021
+3%
+6%
-6%
-10%
2022
+16%
+5%
-31%
-6%
2023
+16%
+2%
-14%
-7%
2024
+34%
-4%
-27%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Hughes County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Hughes County has about 43 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 17% more than the US as a whole and close to South 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.
Assault is the most common crime in Hughes County, about 43% 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 Hughes County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Hughes County, 2022 to 2024.
In Hughes County, 62% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 30% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (62%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (36%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (30%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (50%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (57%)
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 Hughes County compares with nearby counties
Hughes County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
One thing sets Hughes County apart: it has 7% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 93% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.62 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 91% of Americans
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. 88% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (15 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 62% of Americans
Show all 6
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 Hughes County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.7% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 73% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.7.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 68% of Americans
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 Hughes County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Hughes County about $1,109 a year per household, 8% 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 $23 million a year, or $1,324 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$530,000
$30
Rape
$680,000
$38
Robbery
$25,000
$1
Assault
$3.9 million
$219
Burglary
$330,000
$18
Theft
$1.1 million
$64
Vehicle theft
$480,000
$27
Arson
$18,000
$1
Vandalism
$990,000
$56
Total
$8.0 million
$455
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 Hughes County 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 Hughes County, SD average a SchoolGrade of A: 57% of students test proficient, against 44% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Hughes County on SchoolGrade
