The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Pennington County, MN
Pennington County is home to 13,800 residents and includes Thief River Falls and St. Hilaire · Updated November 2026
Is Pennington County, MN safe?
Yes. Crime is low across most of the US, and lower still in Pennington County: an overall CrimeGrade™ of A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 96% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A+ here. Its neighborhoods are much alike, from A+ to A; see the map below.
A+
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 977 of 1,000Safer than nearly all US neighborhoodsi What this means
96% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Pennington County as a whole, and 4% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Pennington County scores 977.
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 Pennington County, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Pennington 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 Pennington County
Crime per resident runs higher than the grade. Pennington County draws many workers, shoppers and visitors: it has 76 jobs for every 100 residents, against 45 for the US as a whole. Crimes against them are counted against the few who live here, so crime per resident looks higher than the CrimeGrade™ suggests. The CrimeGrade™ counts everyone who spends time here.
The safest and least safe parts of Pennington County
Every part of Pennington County where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Pennington County run from A+ to A; every part of Pennington 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.
Across the county, the northwest side has the least crime and the Thief River Falls area the most.
Is crime going up in Pennington County?
Reported property crime in Pennington County has fallen 10% 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 13 to 11 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
Pennington CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Pennington County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Pennington County
Property, US
2016
+52%
+15%
2017
+85%
+12%
2018
+54%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-5%
-8%
2021
+12%
-10%
2022
+37%
-6%
2023
-4%
-7%
2024
-10%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Pennington County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Pennington County has about 25 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 32% less than the US as a whole and 16% less than Minnesota.
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 39% of crime reported in Pennington 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 Pennington County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Pennington County, 2022 to 2024.
In Pennington County, 85% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 58% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (85%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (58%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (44%)
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 Pennington County compares with nearby counties
Of the 10 counties closest to Pennington County, 8 have less crime. Kittson County and Traill County, ND have the least.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Pennington 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, Pennington County is safer than 73% of them.
Jobs, density and walkability in Pennington County
Two things set Pennington County apart: it has 76 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 with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.76 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 97% 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. 79% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (18 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 55% of Americans
Show all 6
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 93% 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 Pennington County: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
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.67% where people liveUS: 78%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 Pennington County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Pennington County about $559 a year per household, 54% 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 $9.0 million a year, or $655 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$490,000
$35
Rape
$380,000
$27
Robbery
$49,000
$4
Assault
$1.0 million
$75
Burglary
$180,000
$13
Theft
$700,000
$51
Vehicle theft
$190,000
$14
Arson
$40,000
$3
Vandalism
$350,000
$26
Total
$3.4 million
$246
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 Pennington 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 Pennington County, MN average a SchoolGrade of C: 36% of students test proficient, against 48% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Pennington County on SchoolGrade
