The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Rochester Hills, MI
Rochester Hills is a city of 76,200 in Oakland County, about 25 miles north of downtown Detroit · Updated November 2026
Is Rochester Hills, MI safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Rochester Hills has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A+, safer than the neighborhoods where 80% 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 935 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
80% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Rochester Hills as a whole, and 20% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Rochester Hills scores 935.
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 Rochester Hills, MI at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Rochester Hills, 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 Rochester Hills
Burglaries and car thefts both run low. In Rochester Hills, each runs at a small fraction of the US rate: 0.51 burglaries and 0.59 car thefts a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 and 2.7 nationally.
Thefts from cars happen at homes far more often than nationally. In Rochester Hills, 61% of reported thefts from cars happen at homes, against 34% nationally.
The safest and least safe parts of Rochester Hills
Every part of Rochester Hills where people live grades A or B on the national scale. Grades across Rochester Hills run from A+ to A; every part of Rochester Hills 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 Rochester Hills, the north side has the least crime and the east side the most.
Is crime going up in Rochester Hills?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Rochester Hills is up 59% and property crime is down 18%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 0.6 to 0.9 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 6.3 to 5.2 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 20% and property crime fell 39%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Rochester HillsUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Rochester Hills. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Rochester Hills
Violent, US
Property, Rochester Hills
Property, US
2016
+27%
+4%
+18%
+15%
2017
-7%
+4%
+1%
+12%
2018
+28%
+0%
-4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+21%
+4%
-30%
-8%
2021
+12%
+6%
-14%
-10%
2022
+29%
+5%
+6%
-6%
2023
+32%
+2%
+36%
-7%
2024
+58%
-4%
-18%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Rochester Hills
CrimeGrade™ estimates Rochester Hills has about 10 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 73% less than the US as a whole and 70% less than 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.
Theft makes up about 41% of crime reported in Rochester Hills. 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 Rochester Hills
Rochester Hills has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Rochester Hills, 71% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (71%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (40%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Theft from cars
Homes (61%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (40%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (50%)
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 Rochester Hills compares with nearby cities
Rochester Hills has less crime than 5 of its 10 nearest cities.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Rochester Hills. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with cities of similar size and density, Rochester Hills is safer than 89% of them.
Parking lots, transit and walkability in Rochester Hills
Two things set Rochester Hills apart: it has 3.0 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 4.2% of its homes standing empty, against 7.1% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space 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.3.0 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher 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 Rochester Hills: D- (9 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. 88% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (12 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 69% of US city residents
Show all 6
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.2% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 71% 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.6% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 70% 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.99% where people liveUS: 78%Higher than for 65% 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 Rochester Hills
Crime costs Rochester Hills about $311 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 74% 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 $31 million a year, or $410 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$1.8 million
$24
Rape
$500,000
$7
Robbery
$150,000
$2
Assault
$3.5 million
$46
Burglary
$350,000
$5
Theft
$1.6 million
$21
Vehicle theft
$690,000
$9
Arson
$33,000
under $1
Vandalism
$510,000
$7
Total
$9.2 million
$121
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 Rochester Hills 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 Rochester Hills, MI average a SchoolGrade of A+: 59% of students test proficient, against 52% projected for schools like them. Overall, they meet expectations. See schools in Rochester Hills on SchoolGrade
