The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in La Crosse, WI
La Crosse is a city of 57,000 in La Crosse County and the main city of the La Crosse metro area, home to 170,200 · Updated November 2026
Is La Crosse, WI safe?
Yes, crime in La Crosse is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, La Crosse sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 46% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within La Crosse run from A+ to B-, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 818 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
46% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than La Crosse as a whole, and 54% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. La Crosse scores 818.
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 La Crosse, WI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in La Crosse, 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 La Crosse
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in La Crosse runs 34% above the US rate, but robberies run at less than half that rate: 0.22 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Theft stands out among A-graded cities. For the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 8.3 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; La Crosse has 29.1.
The safest and least safe parts of La Crosse
Every part of La Crosse where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across La Crosse run from A+ to B-; 31% 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 La Crosse, the northeast side has the least crime and the west side the most.
Is crime going up in La Crosse?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in La Crosse is up 62%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.4 to 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 36 to 37 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 15%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
La CrosseUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves La Crosse. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, La Crosse
Violent, US
Property, La Crosse
Property, US
2016
+6%
+4%
+22%
+15%
2017
+13%
+4%
+16%
+12%
2018
+18%
+0%
+3%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+7%
+4%
+18%
-8%
2021
+9%
+6%
+13%
-10%
2022
+36%
+5%
-12%
-6%
2023
+41%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
+62%
-4%
+2%
-15%
Crime rates and types in La Crosse
CrimeGrade™ estimates La Crosse has about 50 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 34% more than the US as a whole and about double the rate for Wisconsin.
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.
The largest share of crime reported in La Crosse is theft, about 58% of the total. It also makes up 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 La Crosse
La Crosse has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In La Crosse, 67% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 43% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (67%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Homes (43%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (53%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
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 La Crosse compares with nearby cities
La Crosse has the most crime of its 8 nearest cities.
Two things set La Crosse apart: it has 81 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and a Walk Grade of C (38 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole. Places like that tend to report more theft and robbery, and theft runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.81 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 92% 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.C (38 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 87% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.7 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 81% of US city residents
Show all 6
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.2.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 74% 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 La Crosse: F (0 of 100).5 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 69% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.26% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 65% of US city residents
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 La Crosse
Crime costs La Crosse about $1,023 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 15% 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 $68 million a year, or $1,193 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$2.0 million
$35
Rape
$2.4 million
$42
Robbery
$390,000
$7
Assault
$7.9 million
$138
Burglary
$1.3 million
$23
Theft
$8.5 million
$149
Vehicle theft
$1.3 million
$22
Arson
$61,000
$1
Vandalism
$1.7 million
$30
Total
$25 million
$447
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 La Crosse 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 La Crosse, WI average a SchoolGrade of C+: 43% of students test proficient, against 50% projected for schools like them. Overall, they underperform expectations. See schools in La Crosse on SchoolGrade
