Ionia is a city of 19,700 in Ionia County, about 30 miles east of downtown Grand Rapids · Updated November 2026
Is Ionia, MI safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Ionia: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A, safer than the neighborhoods where 62% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ionia run from A+ to B+, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 886 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
62% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ionia as a whole, and 38% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ionia scores 886.
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, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ionia, 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
One weak spot: reported rape. It grades B- in Ionia, worse than in the neighborhoods where 86% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
Thefts and aggravated assaults both run low. In Ionia, each runs at less than half the US rate: 5.5 thefts and 1.1 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 and 2.6 nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Ionia
Every part of Ionia where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Ionia run from A+ to B+; 72% 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.
Within Ionia, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Ionia?
Reported crime in Ionia has fallen since 2019: violent crime is down 51% and property crime down 55%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.8 to 1.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 12 to 5.6 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 43% and property crime rose 22%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
IoniaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Ionia. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Ionia
Violent, US
Property, Ionia
Property, US
2016
-8%
+4%
+10%
+15%
2017
-16%
+4%
+15%
+12%
2018
+14%
+0%
-11%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
-56%
+4%
-37%
-8%
2021
-43%
+6%
-18%
-10%
2022
-55%
+5%
-44%
-6%
2023
-15%
+2%
-63%
-7%
2024
-51%
-4%
-55%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Ionia
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ionia has about 20 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 46% less than the US as a whole and 42% 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, 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 Ionia
Ionia has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (42%)
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 Ionia compares with nearby cities
Ionia has more crime than 5 of its 6 nearest cities. Lyons and Palo have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Ionia apart: it has 5.7 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and a Walk Grade of D- (9 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 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.5.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 89% of US city residents
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: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower 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. 91% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (9 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 81% of US city residents
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.73% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 76% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 71% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.32 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 68% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Ionia on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
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
Crime costs Ionia about $913 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 24% 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 $16 million a year, or $838 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$740,000
$38
Rape
$920,000
$47
Robbery
$34,000
$2
Assault
$1.8 million
$90
Burglary
$81,000
$4
Theft
$550,000
$28
Vehicle theft
$190,000
$10
Arson
$44,000
$2
Vandalism
$480,000
$24
Total
$4.8 million
$244
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 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. Ionia is the other kind of example: few people work in, shop in or visit it, so its crime per resident looks lower 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 Ionia, MI average a SchoolGrade of C: 37% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Ionia on SchoolGrade
