The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rice Lake, WI
Rice Lake is a city of 14,600 in Barron County, about 50 miles north of downtown Eau Claire · Updated November 2026
Is Rice Lake, WI safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Rice Lake has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 87% 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 955 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
87% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rice Lake as a whole, and 13% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rice Lake scores 955.
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 Rice Lake, WI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rice Lake, 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 Rice Lake
Simple assault runs low. Rice Lake has 4.3 simple assaults a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 9.7.
The safest and least safe parts of Rice Lake
Every part of Rice Lake where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rice Lake run from A+ to A; every part of Rice Lake 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.
Within Rice Lake, the northeast side has the least crime and the center the most.
Is crime going up in Rice Lake?
Reported violent crime in Rice Lake peaked in 2021 and has fallen 52% since, back near its 2019 level. Property crime is down 59% from 2019. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults stayed at about 2.5 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 34 to 14 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime fell 51%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Rice LakeUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rice Lake. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Rice Lake
Violent, US
Property, Rice Lake
Property, US
2016
+6%
+4%
+8%
+15%
2017
+55%
+4%
-23%
+12%
2018
+20%
+0%
-14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+83%
+4%
-29%
-8%
2021
+105%
+6%
-46%
-10%
2022
+96%
+5%
-52%
-6%
2023
+101%
+2%
-56%
-7%
2024
-1%
-4%
-60%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rice Lake
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rice Lake has about 18 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 51% less than the US as a whole and 25% less than Wisconsin.
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 45% of crime reported in Rice Lake. 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 Rice Lake
Rice Lake has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Homes (35%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Aggravated assault
Homes (55%)
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 Rice Lake compares with nearby cities
Of the 6 cities closest to Rice Lake, 5 have less crime. Haugen and Chetek have the least.
Two things set Rice Lake apart: it has 4.3 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 18.6 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally. Places like that tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.4.3 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 96% of US city residents
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.18.6 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 95% 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. 70% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 62% of US city residents
Show all 6
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.1% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 89% 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 Rice Lake: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
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.58% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 84% of US city residents
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 Rice Lake
Crime costs Rice Lake about $490 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 59% 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 $10 million a year, or $710 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$600,000
$41
Rape
$160,000
$11
Robbery
$18,000
$1
Assault
$1.1 million
$76
Burglary
$59,000
$4
Theft
$610,000
$42
Vehicle theft
$130,000
$9
Arson
$33,000
$2
Vandalism
$310,000
$21
Total
$3.0 million
$207
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 Rice Lake 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 Rice Lake, WI average a SchoolGrade of C-: 40% of students test proficient, against 43% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Rice Lake on SchoolGrade
