Niles is a township of 34,500 in Berrien County and the main city of the Niles metro area, home to 153,300 · Updated November 2026
Is Niles, MI safe?
Yes, crime in Niles is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, Niles sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 52% of Americans live. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, A against A-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Niles run from A+ to C+, so check the map below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 846 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
52% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Niles as a whole, and 48% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Niles scores 846.
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 Niles, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Niles, 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 Niles
Reported rapes run high for an A-graded city. Niles has 0.72 reported rapes a year per 1,000 residents; for the typical resident of an A-graded US city, the figure is 0.25.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Niles, 65% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Niles
Low crime is the norm across Niles: 98% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Niles run from A+ to C+; 55% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
98%
A or B 98%C 2%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Niles, the southeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Crime rates and types in Niles
CrimeGrade™ estimates Niles has about 33 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 11% less than the US as a whole and close to 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 Niles, about 47% 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 Niles
The Berrien County Sheriff's Office polices Niles, and these figures cover every place it serves, 2022 to 2024.
In Niles, 54% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (54%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Homes (55%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (65%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (51%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (67%)
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 Niles compares with nearby cities
Of the 9 cities closest to Niles, 7 have less crime. Dailey and Pennellwood have the least.
Two things set Niles apart: it has 2.9 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 4% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
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.56% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 85% 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 Niles: F (1 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. 84% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (13 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 64% 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.2.9 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 84% 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.4% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 78% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.28 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 74% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Niles 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 Niles
Crime costs Niles about $867 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 28% 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 $38 million a year, or $1,104 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.6 million
$48
Rape
$1.5 million
$43
Robbery
$150,000
$4
Assault
$5.3 million
$154
Burglary
$470,000
$14
Theft
$1.7 million
$50
Vehicle theft
$570,000
$16
Arson
$91,000
$3
Vandalism
$960,000
$28
Total
$12 million
$360
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 Niles 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 Niles, MI average a SchoolGrade of B+: 44% of students test proficient, against 34% projected for schools like them. Overall, they greatly exceed expectations. See schools in Niles on SchoolGrade
