The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Ramsey County, MN
Ramsey County, the second-most populous county in Minnesota, is home to 542,900 residents and includes St. Paul and Maplewood · Updated November 2026
Is Ramsey County, MN safe?
With an overall CrimeGrade™ of B, Ramsey County has moderate crime by national standards. Most US neighborhoods have less: 71% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime. Violent crime grades B+ and property crime B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Ramsey County run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 685 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Ramsey County as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Ramsey County scores 685.
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 Ramsey County, MN at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Ramsey 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 Ramsey County
Arson stands out among B-graded counties. For the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 0.12 arsons a year per 1,000 residents; Ramsey County has 0.35.
The safest and most dangerous places in Ramsey County
Most of Ramsey County grades well: 71% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 14% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Ramsey County run from A+ to F; 29% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
71%15%14%
A or B 71%C 15%D or F 14%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Ramsey 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 White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights, and North St. Paul areas have the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Ramsey County?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Ramsey County is up 11% and property crime is down 20%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.2 to 4.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 35 to 28 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Ramsey CountyUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Ramsey County. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Ramsey County
Violent, US
Property, Ramsey County
Property, US
2016
+3%
+4%
-10%
+15%
2017
+6%
+4%
-1%
+12%
2018
+3%
+0%
-8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+25%
+4%
+4%
-8%
2021
+37%
+6%
+11%
-10%
2022
+22%
+5%
+10%
-6%
2023
+9%
+2%
-19%
-7%
2024
+11%
-4%
-20%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Ramsey County
CrimeGrade™ estimates Ramsey County has about 48 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 30% more than the US as a whole and 60% more 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 is the most common crime in Ramsey County, about 42% of everything reported, but assault 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 Ramsey County
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across Ramsey County, 2022 to 2024.
In Ramsey County, 57% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often at homes: 31% of them, against 34% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (57%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (41%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (31%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (39%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (49%)
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 Ramsey County compares with nearby counties
Ramsey County has more crime than 9 of its 10 nearest counties. Wright County and Pierce County, WI have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Ramsey County apart: it has a Walk Grade of C (32 of 100) on BestNeighborhood, against 21 for the US as a whole, and 9 buses and trains an hour at the evening rush, where most Americans have none nearby. Even so, 58% of residents in Ramsey County live in car-dependent areas, where most errands take a car. Places like that tend to report more theft, and it runs high here.
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.60 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 87% 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.C (32 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 85% 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 Ramsey County: C- (28 of 100).9 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 82% of Americans
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.35% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 76% 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.98% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 75% of Americans
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.9.2 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower 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 Ramsey County
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Ramsey County about $1,380 a year per household, 15% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $301 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 $925 million a year, or $1,703 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$51 million
$95
Rape
$16 million
$30
Robbery
$15 million
$27
Assault
$80 million
$146
Burglary
$18 million
$34
Theft
$57 million
$105
Vehicle theft
$29 million
$54
Arson
$4.5 million
$8
Vandalism
$30 million
$55
Total
$301 million
$554
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 Ramsey 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 Ramsey County, MN average a SchoolGrade of D: 27% of students test proficient, against 36% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Ramsey County on SchoolGrade
