The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Missoula County, MT
Missoula County, the third-most populous county in Montana, is home to 120,700 residents and includes Missoula · Updated November 2026
Is Missoula County, MT safe?
Yes. An overall CrimeGrade™ of A means crime in Missoula County is low. Most US neighborhoods have little crime too, so Missoula County sits near the middle: 59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. Violent crime grades A and property crime A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Missoula County run from A+ to C+, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 874 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
59% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Missoula County as a whole, and 41% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Missoula County scores 874.
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 Missoula County, MT at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Missoula 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 Missoula County
Thefts run high for an A-graded county. Missoula County has 21.9 thefts a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US county, the figure is 9.3.
One weak spot: aggravated assault. It grades B+ in Missoula County, worse than in the neighborhoods where 67% of Americans live, against A for violent crime as a whole.
Robberies are uncommon. Missoula County has robberies at about half the US rate: 0.29 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Missoula County
Most of Missoula County grades well: 97% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Missoula County run from A+ to C+; 52% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
97%
A or B 97%C 3%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Missoula 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 Missoula area the most.
Is crime going up in Missoula County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Missoula County is up 32%, while property crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 3.6 to 4.8 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 28 to 26 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Missoula CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Missoula County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Missoula County
Violent, US
Property, Missoula County
Property, US
2016
+15%
+4%
+30%
+15%
2017
+10%
+4%
+14%
+12%
2018
-2%
+0%
+24%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+20%
+4%
-7%
-8%
2021
+48%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
+39%
+5%
-10%
-6%
2023
+25%
+2%
-4%
-7%
2024
+32%
-4%
-8%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Missoula County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Missoula County has about 46 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 23% more than the US as a whole and 30% more than Montana.
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.
Theft makes up about 48% of crime reported in Missoula County. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 Missoula County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Missoula County, 2022 to 2024.
In Missoula County, 42% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 51% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Stores and businesses (50%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (51%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Robbery
Stores and businesses (42%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (42%)
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 Missoula County compares with nearby counties
Missoula County has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Missoula County. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Missoula County has more crime than 51% of them.
Two things set Missoula County apart: it has 6 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby, and 4.7% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery, and theft runs high here.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 91% of Americans
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% 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. 68% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (24 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 76% 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.60% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 77% 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 Missoula County: D (13 of 100).6 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 76% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.4.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 73% 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 Missoula County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Missoula County about $1,098 a year per household, 9% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $56 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $163 million a year, or $1,350 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$3.2 million
$27
Rape
$5.5 million
$46
Robbery
$1.1 million
$9
Assault
$20 million
$169
Burglary
$2.8 million
$23
Theft
$14 million
$112
Vehicle theft
$2.7 million
$23
Arson
$570,000
$5
Vandalism
$5.7 million
$47
Total
$56 million
$461
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 Missoula 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 Missoula County, MT average a SchoolGrade of B-: 40% of students test proficient, against 38% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Missoula County on SchoolGrade
