The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Mills County, IA
Mills County is home to 14,600 residents and includes Glenwood and Malvern · Updated November 2026
Is Mills County, IA safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Mills County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 97% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map and the safest and least safe places below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 980 of 1,000Safer than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
97% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Mills County as a whole, and 3% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Mills County scores 980.
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 Mills County, IA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Mills 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 Mills County
Thefts are uncommon. Mills County has thefts at less than half the US rate: 3.9 a year per 1,000 residents, against 13.1 nationally.
How places in Mills County compare
Every part of Mills County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Mills County run from A+ to A; every part of Mills County has 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 Mills 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 southeast side has the least crime and the west side the most.
Is crime going up in Mills County?
Reported property crime in Mills County has fallen 48% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 11 to 5.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime fell 26%.
Property crime, change since 2019
Mills CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Mills County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Mills County
Property, US
2016
+19%
+15%
2017
+26%
+12%
2018
-19%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-2%
-8%
2021
-7%
-10%
2022
-17%
-6%
2023
-30%
-7%
2024
-48%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Mills County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Mills County has about 15 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 59% less than the US as a whole and 46% less than Iowa.
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 Mills County is assault, about 39% 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 Mills County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Mills County, 2022 to 2024.
In Mills County, 49% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 51% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (49%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Car theft
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (44%)
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 Mills County compares with nearby counties
Mills County has less crime than 7 of its 10 nearest counties.
Two things set Mills County apart: it has 24 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole, and 1% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less theft and robbery, and theft runs low here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.24 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 95% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 95% 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. 86% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 72% 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.33% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 92% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.10.6% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 88% 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 Mills County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower 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 Mills County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Mills County about $424 a year per household, 65% 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 $6.6 million a year, or $450 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$400,000
$27
Rape
$100,000
$7
Robbery
$21,000
$1
Assault
$840,000
$58
Burglary
$160,000
$11
Theft
$290,000
$20
Vehicle theft
$130,000
$9
Arson
$47,000
$3
Vandalism
$350,000
$24
Total
$2.3 million
$160
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 Mills 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 Mills County, IA average a SchoolGrade of B+: 77% of students test proficient, against 63% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Mills County on SchoolGrade
