The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Ionia County, MI
Ionia County is home to 66,600 residents and includes Ionia and Belding · Updated November 2026
Is Ionia County, MI safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Ionia County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 80% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ionia County run from A+ to B+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 937 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ionia County as a whole, and 20% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ionia County scores 937.
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 Ionia County, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ionia 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 Ionia County
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades A- in Ionia County, worse than in the neighborhoods where 61% of Americans live, against A+ for violent crime as a whole.
Car thefts and burglaries both run low. In Ionia County, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.57 car thefts and 0.64 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.7 and 2.4 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Ionia County
Every part of Ionia County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Ionia County run from A+ to B+; 81% 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.
Cities and towns in Ionia County 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 county, the Lyons area has the least crime and the Ionia area the most.
Is crime going up in Ionia County?
Reported crime in Ionia County has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 19% and property crime down 27%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.9 to 2.4 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 9.3 to 6.8 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Ionia CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Ionia County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Ionia County
Violent, US
Property, Ionia County
Property, US
2016
-13%
+4%
+6%
+15%
2017
-2%
+4%
+26%
+12%
2018
+15%
+0%
-2%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-9%
+4%
-24%
-8%
2021
-6%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
-15%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
-20%
+2%
-21%
-7%
2024
-19%
-4%
-27%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Ionia County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ionia County has about 18 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 51% less than the US as a whole and 47% less 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 Ionia County, about 44% 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.
How Ionia County compares with nearby counties
Ionia County has less crime than 8 of its 10 nearest counties; only Montcalm County and Clinton County have less.
Two things set Ionia County apart: it has 6.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 28 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report less theft, and it runs low here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.6.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 98% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower 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. 90% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 85% of Americans
Show all 6
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.39% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 89% of Americans
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 Ionia County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.3.9% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 86% 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 Ionia County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ionia County about $634 a year per household, 47% 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 $50 million a year, or $751 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.3 million
$35
Rape
$2.6 million
$39
Robbery
$73,000
$1
Assault
$5.4 million
$81
Burglary
$380,000
$6
Theft
$1.8 million
$26
Vehicle theft
$580,000
$9
Arson
$160,000
$2
Vandalism
$1.4 million
$21
Total
$15 million
$220
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 Ionia 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 Ionia County, MI average a SchoolGrade of B: 43% of students test proficient, against 40% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Ionia County on SchoolGrade
